You asked for a description of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) runway safety area requirements and how they affect Bradley Airport.

FAA requires that newly built runways that will serve large jets to have at least a 1,000-foot safety area at the end of each runway. The safety area is designed to slow down an aircraft that has overrun a runway in order to prevent injuries or fatalities. The 1,000-foot standard is based on a FAA study that found that approximately 90% of all overruns occur at exit speeds of 70 knots or less and most aircraft come to rest between the extended runway edges within 1,000 feet of the runway end.

Existing runways are not subject to this requirement. However, if an airport seeks federal capital improvement funds and its runways do not meet the standard, FAA will require the airport to take steps to improve runway safety. If natural obstacles, local development, or environmental constraints make construction of the standard safety area impracticable, FAA will allow the airport to use engineered materials arresting systems instead. These systems use hard foam paving materials that collapse when an aircraft goes over them. The system is designed to safely slow down an aircraft that exits a runway at a speed of up to 70 knots.

The runways at Bradley Airport already have 1,000-foot safety areas, according to Connecticut Department of Transportation staff, and as a result these provisions do not affect the airport. In contrast, the edge of the runway at Midway Airport that was the scene of the recent fatal accident was 88 feet from the airport’s fence line, which was adjacent to a busy street.

KM: ro