"Questions About Airport Runways"

Monday, January 22, 2007

Questions About Airport Runways
By Charles Benson
WTMJ-TV Ch 4 (NBC), Milwaukee (WI)


MILWAUKEE - A runway closed after Sunday's plane accident at Mitchell
International has re-opened. A Northwest jet slid off the runway. The pilots
had to abort the takeoff because an engine failed. No one was seriously
hurt. 

The accident is raising questions about safety at the airport and whether
the buffer zone at the end of runways is long enough. 

It's a problem not only in Milwaukee but also at hundreds of airports around
the country. The runways like the one next to Layton Avenue are too close
for comfort.

When the Northwest plane aborted take off Sunday, the pilots quickly learned
they were about to run out of runway real estate. Fortunately the plane came
to a stop in a field. But had the plane been on the north-south runway, it
could have crossed into traffic on Layton or College avenues.

"Like the runway that the Northwest DC-9 went off, there's about 700 feet
but a 1,000 feet is the ultimate requirement," said Barry Bateman, the
Airport Director. 

The new requirement became law shortly after a Southwest Airlines jet
skidded off of runway at Chicago's Midway Airport, killing a 6-year-old boy.

Milwaukee is in a lengthy process to extend its runways by the 2015
deadline. Right now there are a lot of options.

Barry Bateman said, "You could shift the runway where theres room to do that
in order to get enough land." 

There is another option for airports like Milwaukee. It's a new technology
called EMAS. It's a crushable concrete at the end of the runway that can
slow or stop a runaway airplane.

A final recommendation for Mitchell International is expected later this
year with new runways before 2010.

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