Maybe SNA will install these next...
FAA Gets Chicago's Plan To Improve Runway Safety At Midway
Dow Jones
CHICAGO (AP)--The city Tuesday submitted a $40 million proposal to the Federal Aviation Administration to build collapsible concrete beds at the ends of the runways at Midway Airport to prevent planes from overshooting their landings.
The plan comes four months after a Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) flight skidded off a runway at Midway and into traffic, killing a 6-year-old boy in a car.
The 200- to 300-foot concrete beds would be made of lightweight bricks designed to collapse under the weight of an aircraft, safely slowing the plane. The FAA has approved similar systems at 14 airports, officials said.
The FAA said it is evaluating the city's proposal, submitted Tuesday.
Midway is one of almost 300 commercial airports nationwide that don't have 1, 000-foot safety zones at the ends of its runways. The city told federal officials in 2004 that such zones cannot be built at Midway because the airport is hemmed in by homes and businesses.
Congress has passed a law that would force all airports to either build such zones or install alternatives such as collapsible "aircraft-arrester beds" by 2015.
"We believe we can solve this safety issue within the confines of the airport using the aircraft-arrester beds," said Erin O'Donnell, managing deputy aviation commissioner at Midway. "No additional land needs to be acquired."
FAA Gets Chicago's Plan To Improve Runway Safety At Midway
Dow Jones
CHICAGO (AP)--The city Tuesday submitted a $40 million proposal to the Federal Aviation Administration to build collapsible concrete beds at the ends of the runways at Midway Airport to prevent planes from overshooting their landings.
The plan comes four months after a Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) flight skidded off a runway at Midway and into traffic, killing a 6-year-old boy in a car.
The 200- to 300-foot concrete beds would be made of lightweight bricks designed to collapse under the weight of an aircraft, safely slowing the plane. The FAA has approved similar systems at 14 airports, officials said.
The FAA said it is evaluating the city's proposal, submitted Tuesday.
Midway is one of almost 300 commercial airports nationwide that don't have 1, 000-foot safety zones at the ends of its runways. The city told federal officials in 2004 that such zones cannot be built at Midway because the airport is hemmed in by homes and businesses.
Congress has passed a law that would force all airports to either build such zones or install alternatives such as collapsible "aircraft-arrester beds" by 2015.
"We believe we can solve this safety issue within the confines of the airport using the aircraft-arrester beds," said Erin O'Donnell, managing deputy aviation commissioner at Midway. "No additional land needs to be acquired."
