A runway excursion is a runway safety incident in which an aircraft makes an inappropriate exit from the runway. This happens mainly due to late landings or inappropriate runway choice.
A departing aircraft fails to become airborne or is unsuccessful in rejecting takeoff before reaching the end of the designated runway.
A landing aircraft is unable to stop before the end of the designated runway is reached, causing it to keep moving and leave the runway.
An aircraft taking off, rejecting takeoff or landing departs the side of the designated runway, not airborne.
When an aircraft exits the end of the runway, this is referred to as runway overrun (or informally, runway overshoot). Runway excursions can happen because of pilot error, poor weather, or a fault with the aircraft.
According to the Flight Safety Foundation, as of 2008, runway excursions were the most frequent type of landing accident, slightly ahead of runway incursion.[2] For runway accidents recorded between 1995 and 2007, 96% of runway accidents and 80% of accidents with fatalities involved runway excursions.[2]
Management and prevention
Efforts to address runway excursion either focus on preventing runway excursions, or on minimizing the amount of damage or injury caused by a runway excursion. In the latter category, aviation safety regulators may establish standards such as minimum runway safety areas intended to allow adequate time and distance for an aircraft to stop in the event of a runway excursion.
Runway widening and extension
A key aspect of preventing runway excursions is providing runways of sufficient length and width to accommodate the aircraft used at an airport. In the 1960s, the advent of jetairliners such as the Boeing 707, which operate at faster speeds including at takeoff and landing relative to earlier propeller-driven airliners, required longer runways. In the mid-1960s, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed increasing minimum runway length requirements by 800 feet (240 m) at all U.S. airports with jet airliner service, extending to 1,200 feet (370 m) feet in rain or snow conditions. However, these requirements would have necessitated building extending runways or even building new airports in some cities. After strong industry response, the FAA withdrew the proposal and instead only mandated a fifteen per cent increase to minimum runway length during wet or slippery landing conditions.[3]
Preventing runway excursions can necessitate building new airports, when there is not room to expand existing runways. On July 1, 1965, Continental Airlines Flight 12 (a Boeing 707) overran the runway while landing in rain and high winds at Kansas City Municipal Airport. Investigators ruled out pilot error, and determined it would have been impossible to stop the aircraft in the available runway length. Extending the 7,000-foot (2,100 m) runway was not possible due to space limitations surrounding the urban airport, and construction on Kansas City International Airport north of the city was approved the next year, opening in 1972 with runways 9,500 feet (2,900 m) and 9,000 feet (2,700 m) in length.
Airports such as LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York, may lack adequate space to meet runway safety area standards. As a result, in the 1990s, the FAA began conducting research on new technology to rapidly stop aircraft in less than 1,000 feet (300 m) in the event of a runway overrun.[4]
The engineered materials arrestor system (EMAS) was developed as a high energy absorbing material that could be installed as a surface beyond the end of runways, which was designed to collapse under the weight of an aircraft (absorbing energy and slowing the plane in the process) in the event of an overrun. Installation of EMAS at LaGuardia Airport started in 2005 and finished in 2015.[4] In October 2016, a Boeing 737 aircraft with 37 people aboard, including Republican vice-presidential candidate Mike Pence, overran the runway while landing at LaGuardia. EMAS was credited with bringing the plane to a stop safely and with no serious damage or casualties.[5][6][7]
As of December 2020[update], EMAS has been installed at more than 100 runway end locations at more than 50 commercial airports in the United States, and has safely stopped 15 aircraft involved in runway overruns.[8]
Flight systems technology
Airbus is developing the Runway Overrun Prevention System, a flight systems technology intended to prevent runway overruns by increasing pilots' situational awareness and enhancing automation during landings.[4]
The following list includes runway excursions, which are notable because they resulted in fatalities, aircraft destruction, or substantial aviation safety changes or improvements.
The Airspeed Ambassador crashed on its third attempt to take off at Munich-Riem Airport due to runway slush. The flight was carrying the Manchester United football team back home, along with supporters and journalists, from a European Cup match in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia). There were 44 people on board, 20 of whom died at the scene. Three more injured died at hospital, resulting in 23 fatalities with 21 survivors.
The Boeing 727-2A7 operating the flight bounced multiple times after the crew let the aircraft stall above the runway. The right main landing gear collapsed as the aircraft overran the runway, hitting a truck, and sliding up a hill. 2 of the 55 occupants were killed.[9]
A Boeing 727 operating the service overran the airport's runway before crashing onto the nearby beach and exploding, killing 131 of the 164 people on board. It remains TAP's only fatal accident in its history.[10][11] The runway was 5,200 ft (1,600 m) long at the time of the crash. It would be extended in 1986 to 5,900 ft (1,800 m) and again in 2000 to 9,124 ft (2,781 m).
The Boeing 720-059B landed too fast (143 knots instead of 123 kts) and too far down the runway ( 300 m down), overrunning it by 70 m and collapsing the nosegear. No injuries were reported, but the plane was written off.[12]
The DC-8 cargo flight to Guayaquil failed to take off, hitting an instrument landing system (ILS) antenna at the end of the runway and then striking several houses. All 4 crew and 49 people on the ground were killed.
Landing in stormy conditions with a crosswind, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 began to weathervane, and the captain failed to use sufficient rudder control to regain the proper ground track. The plane departed the right side of the runway. All 202 occupants on board survived, with 2 passengers suffering serious injuries during the emergency evacuation. The aircraft was badly damaged and was written off.[13]
The Airbus A320 operated by Lufthansa overran the runway at Warsaw Chopin Airport due to pilot error and hit an embankment. The training captain and one of the 64 passengers died and 56 out of the 64 survivors were injured. The aircraft was destroyed
The non-scheduled domestic passenger Yakovlev Yak-40 flight was forcibly overloaded by militants during the civil war in Tajikistan, with the crew taking more passengers than the aircraft was able to carry, which led to an excess takeoff weight. Unable to take off, the aircraft overran the runway at high speed, struck several obstacles and fell into the Panj River, killing 82 people on board (including 14 children).[14] It is the deadliest accident involving a Yakovlev Yak-40 and the deadliest aviation accident in Tajikistan.[15]
To avoid a runway overrun and collision with the approach light system, the captain of a Boeing 747-400 deliberately veered the plane off the left side of the runway and into Victoria Harbour. No one was killed, but the plane was written off.
The Yakovlev Yak-40 crashed into a river after overrunning the airstrip during landing due to an apparent flight crew conflict over the decision to land in heavy rain and poor visual conditions; the aircraft ultimately touched down half on the wet dirt strip, depriving it of enough space to brake, and leading to the accident.[16] Of the 31 occupants (26 passengers and 5 crew) 5 passengers and the Ukrainian instructor pilot died.[17][18]
An overloaded Antonov An-32B overran the runway at after attempting to take-off on an illegal arms-smuggling flight for Angolan rebels and ploughed into Kinshasa's Simbazikita street market. Four of the six crew of the aircraft survived the accident, but between 225 and 348 people died, with more than 500 injured. It remained the deadliest aviation accident in African history until the 2018 Algerian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 crash,[19] the deadliest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the deadliest in terms of ground fatalities, only superseded by the intentional crashes of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 in the September 11 attacks, and thus the deadliest accident in terms of ground fatalities.
The crew of an overloaded Boeing 727 charter flight, carrying the Brazilian Corinthiansfootball back to Brazil after playing a Copa Libertadores match, rejected take-off in rainy conditions. The plane hit the ILS installation and then a perimeter wall before coming to rest between a nearby avenue and the airport terrain. There were no fatalities among the 79 passengers and 11 crew, but six people were injured and the plane was written off.
The Airbus A320-214 overran the runway due to pilot error and crashed into a residential area. There were no fatalities out of the 130 passengers and crew on board the aircraft, but three people on the ground were killed, and there were many injuries. The aircraft was written off as a loss.[21]
The Boeing 737-200, registered as PP-CJO, flying from Marabá veered off the right side of the runway at Carajás during a thunderstorm after its right main landing gear collapsed rearwards. The aircraft ended up in a wooded area and one crew member died.[22]
The Fairchild FH-227D operated a repositioning ferry flight with staff and equipment from Quito's Mariscal Sucre International Airport to Chachoan. Due to poor-to-no preparation to fly into this high-elevation airfield, the plane touched down halfway down the runway at high speed (at 100 knots), overran it by 170 meters, and fell into a 90-meter-deep ravine. There were no casualties among the seven occupants but the plane was written off.[23] The plane had been briefly used in 1992 for photoshoot purposes for the 1993 movie Alive, painted in the livery of the ill-fated Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571.[24][25]
The Tupolev Tu-154 with 91 occupants overran the runway after aborting takeoff due to pilot error. It hit an ILS tower and crashed into a residential area after hitting the airport perimeter wall. Seventy people on board the aircraft were killed, plus ten on the ground were killed, with several people injured. The aircraft was destroyed.
A Boeing 737-204C overran the runway after the pilots accidentally attempted to take off with the flaps retracted. The plane sped across a highway, striking a car, before smashing into construction equipment and bursting into flames, killing 63 of the 100 people aboard, as well as 2 people on the ground, and injuring 3 on the ground as well.
The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 overran the runway, went down a slope, and crashed into ten houses of a neighborhood, killing 8 passengers and 8 crew members as well as 2 people on the ground.
A Boeing 737-204C overran the runway after the pilots accidentally attempted to take off with the flaps retracted. The plane sped across a highway, striking a car, before smashing into construction equipment and bursting into flames, killing 63 of the 100 people aboard, as well as 2 people on the ground, and injuring 3 on the ground as well.
A Boeing 737-300 landed too fast to stop on a wet runway, crashed through a perimeter wall and came to a stop near a gas station. Everyone survived, but due to structural damage the aircraft was written off.
The flight to Cali, Colombia aborted takeoff due to a tire blowout. The nose gear collapsed, and the aircraft came to rest 81 metres (266 ft) past the runway threshold and into the runway safety area. There were no injuries, but the aircraft was written off.[26]
While landing in wet weather, the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 overran the runway due to hydroplaning and poor aircraft braking performance. After leaving the runway, the aircraft struck an embankment and split into two sections. 25 of the 153 people on board were killed.
An Airbus A340 overran the end of the runway and came to rest in a ravine. 43 people were injured, and the aircraft was destroyed by a post-crash fire.
The Airbus A310 overshot the runway and struck a concrete barrier at high speed, causing the aircraft to break apart and igniting a massive fire. 125 of the 203 occupants were killed.
The Bombardier CRJ100 overshot the runway and struck a low earthen wall adjacent to a ditch, briefly leaving the ground, clipped airport perimeter fencing with its landing gear and smashed into trees, separating the fuselage and flight deck from the tail. 49 of the 50 occupants were killed.
An Airbus A320 overran the runway while landing in rain, and crashed into a warehouse. All 187 people on board, and 12 people on the ground, were killed.
The Airbus A340-600 was badly damaged and eventually written off after sliding off runway 35 and coming to a stop in the runway safety area. The landing gear collapsed and two engines were dislodged. All 333 passengers and crew were evacuated via inflatable slides, but no serious injuries were reported.
The Boeing 737-200 overran the runway due to a hydraulics malfunction and crashed into a house. There were no fatalities out of the 130 passengers and crew on board the aircraft, but one person inside the house was killed. The aircraft received substantial damage and was written off.[27]
An Airbus A310-300 overran the runway and came to rest beyond the end of runway 36. A fire then erupted on the starboard side of the aircraft, communications between crew members were ineffective and hand luggage caused further delay in the evacuation process during evacuation of the aircraft. 30 out of 214 died as a result.
A Fokker F28-4000 on a flight to El Coca's Francisco de Orellana Airport, aborted takeoff due to an alarm fire in the front cargo compartment. The plane could not stop in time, hit the ILS antenna at the north end of the runway, went off the runway safety area and hit a brick wall before stopping. There were no fatalities among the 62 passengers and 4 crew members, but the airframe was written off.[28][29]
A Boeing 737-800 landing in rain and a tailwind touched down more than 4,000 feet (1,200 m) from the start of the runway. Unable to stop in the remaining distance, it broke apart on rocks near the shoreline. No one was killed, but 85 people were injured and the plane was destroyed.
The Boeing 737-800 overshot the end of the runway, went through a 300-foot (90 m) sand arrestor bed meant as excursion protection, then slid down a steep hillside. 158 of the 166 occupants were killed.
A Boeing 737-800 overran the runway while attempting to land in rainy weather. All occupants survived, but the aircraft was irreparably damaged and seven people were injured.
A Tupolev TU-204-100 overran the runway while landing due to a braking system failure and pilot error running into a ditch and highway structures. The aircraft was destroyed, and five out of the eight aboard were killed. This accident was the first fatal accident of the TU-204 since its introduction in 1989.
The A310 operating a cargo flight for the Congolese company Services Air overran the runway at Mbuji-Mayi Airport. None of the five people on board were killed or injured but eight people were killed on the ground.[30][31]
The McDonnell Douglas MD-83 operating Flight 9363 suffered a runway excursion at Willow Run Airport, Michigan. All 110 passengers and 6 crew members survived, but one was injured. The aircraft was subsequently written off.
A Boeing 737-800 ran off the left side of the runway during landing and slid down a cliff, stopping short of the water. No one was killed, but the aircraft was destroyed.
A Bombardier Q400 skidded off the runway while landing, crashed through the inner perimeter fence on the edge of the airport, and slid down the slope. The aircraft disintegrated into pieces as it slid down the rough slope before crashing into the football field and bursting into flames. 51 out of 71 occupants were killed
The last Boeing 707 in commercial use overran the runway after the flight crew mistook the Fath Air Base runway for the much longer one at Payam International Airport. 15 of the 16 people on board were killed.
A Saab 2000 of PenAir operating as Alaska Airlines Flight 3296 suffered a runway excursion at Unalaska Airport after it landed at its destination airport. Of the 42 occupants, 1 passenger died and 11 more suffered injuries. The aircraft was subsequently written off.
A Boeing 737-800 overran the tabletop runway, skidding off the end of the runway and crashing into a gorge. The aircraft was carrying 190 people including 6 crew members. A total of 21 people, including both pilots, were killed in the crash.
An Airbus A330-322 overran the runway while landing because of a hydraulic failure. All 173 passengers and crew members survived without injuries, however the aircraft was damaged beyond repair and written off.
A Boeing P-8A Poseidon overran the runway and subsequently ditched in Kāneʻohe Bay while landing. All nine crew on board survived and the accident is currently under investigation.
An Embraer 195 overran on takeoff and struck runway lights before becoming airborne. All 111 passengers and crew members survived without injuries. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and written off and was to be dismantled.
A Boeing 737-8AS suffered a runway excursion after attempting a belly landing, and then crashed into a concrete barrier. Of the 181 occupants onboard, 179 were killed.[33][34]
^"Desastre aéreo na Madeira: 123 mortos" [Air disaster in Madeira: 123 dead]. Acervo Digital – Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved October 17, 2019.
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