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| Airbus A330 in flight, the last to receive EASA ROPS approval. Photo: Airbus |
[Avionics Today 07-20-2015] Airbus has achieved European Aviation Safety Administration (EASA) certification of its innovative Runway Overrun Prevention System (ROPS) technology on A330 family aircraft. ROPS is an on-board cockpit alerting system, which reduces exposure to runway overrun risk and, if necessary, provides active protection. The ROPS technology is now available for line-fit and retrofit installation on all Airbus models. Korean Air will become the first A330 operator to implement ROPS on its A330s in service in the coming months.
Runway excursion — meaning either an aircraft veering off the side of the runway, or overrunning at the very end — remains the primary cause of civil airliner hull losses, particularly as other formerly prevalent categories of aircraft accidents have now largely been eliminated. Furthermore, various industry bodies including the EASA, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Eurocontrol and FAA recognize this and stand behind the introduction of effective measures by commercial aviation stakeholders to eliminate the risk of runway excursions.