Runway Safety at Sydney Airport

Sydney Airport must install an improved safety system that would dramatically reduce the consequences of an aircraft overrunning the runway, the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) believes. In a submission to the Sydney Airport Draft Major Development Plan, AIPA said an Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS) – such as crushable concrete - should be installed at the end of the east-west runway. EMAS is designed to slow and stop an aircraft overrun and would improve the safe operation of the runway. Runway overruns are the most common type of runway safety accident (96 per cent) around the world occurring once every ten days, and the most common type of fatal runway safety accident (80 percent). “We owe it to the travelling public to ensure all reasonable safety precautions are taken,” AIPA President Ian Woods said. “We have already seen two incidences of runway overrun this year, one in Honduras and one in Brussels. Unless we increase our safety standards to the international best practice we could see a repeat of those incidents here in Australia. IPA is concerned the 90 meter proposed Runway End Safety Area (RESA) falls significantly short of the 240 meter recommended international standard.  In the US, all airports are required to have a 305 meter RESA or an alternative means of compliance such as an EMAS,” Woods noted.