Passenger Jet Flight 2253 Fails To Stop After Landing

NEWSROOM


Passenger Jet Flight 2253 Fails To Stop After Landing By Daniel Baxter (see NTSB Update On Jackson Hole B-757 Runway Overrun Incident)

		December 31, 2010 - The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into an incident in which a passenger jetliner that had landed at Jackson Hole Airport in Wyoming failed to stop after touchdown on Thursday. At about 11:38 AM MT on Thursday, American Airlines Flight 2253, a B-757 (N668AA) inbound from Chicago O'Hare International Airport, ran off the end of runway 19 while landing at Jackson Hole Airport. No injuries were reported among the 181 passengers and crew on board. The pilot reported that the braking system failed. Flight 2253 continued down the runway, passing the end of the runway and through the runway overrun area which was 300 feet. The aircraft finally came to rest about 350 feet from the overrun area in hard packed snow.

The pilot came on the intercom to reassure passengers that they were ok and stated that the brakes weren?t working properly. Airport officials brought in heavy plows and airport workers began plowing an area around the Boeing 757. A portable staircase and buses were brought in and it took just under an hour before all 181 passengers and crew were able to disembark the aircraft. Aircraft can and do overrun the ends of runways, sometimes with devastating results. An overrun occurs when an aircraft passes beyond the end of a runway during an aborted takeoff or while landing. To minimize the hazards of overruns, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) incorporated the concept of a safety area beyond the runway end into airport design standards called ?runway overrun area?. To meet the standards, the safety area must be capable, under normal (dry) conditions, of supporting the occasional passage of aircraft that overrun the runway without causing structural damage to the aircraft or injury to its occupants. The safety area also provides greater accessibility for emergency equipment after an overrun incident. There are many runways, particularly those constructed prior to the adoption of the safety area standards, where natural obstacles, local development, and/or environmental constraints, make the construction of a standard safety area impracticable.

There have been accidents at some of these airports where the ability to stop an overrunning aircraft within the runway safety area would have prevented major damage to aircraft and/or injuries to passengers (see Runway Overrun May Have Prevented Flight 331 Accident). Recognizing the difficulties associated with achieving a standard safety area at all airports, the FAA undertook research programs on the use of various materials for arresting systems. These research programs, as well as, evaluation of actual aircraft overruns into an EMAS have demonstrated its effectiveness in arresting aircraft overruns.

		The weather was reported to be snowing at the time of the incident. No damage to the aircraft has been reported. Senior NTSB Air Safety Investigator Joseph Sedor has been designated as the Investigator-In-Charge. At this time parties to the investigation are American Airlines, Boeing, the Allied Pilots Association and the Federal Aviation Administration. Other News Stories This New Year's Eve Don't Drink And Drive Put Safety First AeroVironment Receives Order For 123 Raven Unmanned Aircraft GE?s 1000th Dowty Propeller System Makes First Flight On C-130J American Airlines Provides Update On Disputes With Orbitz And Expedia Boeing Delivers First 737 Sky Interior To Continental Airlines Alfred E. Kahn ?Father of Airline Deregulation" Dies At 93 Busted At The Airport With 49 Pellets Of Heroin In His Stomach Fighting Fires In Ecuador With The Flight Design CTLS Garmin Receives EASA Approval On The G1000 Equipped King Air 200 FAA Proposes Fines Against American Eagle And Continental Airlines Boeing Resumes Flight Testing On The 787 After An Electrical Fire Cocaine Concealed Inside Easter Eggs Onboard LAX Flight Allegiant Air Flight Attendants Vote For Union Representation Puerto Rico Army Guard Aviation UH-72 Lakota Helicopter Goes Down Guns Drugs Money Smuggled Through ATL Atlanta Airport All Airline Passengers Now Screened Against Government Watchlists American Airlines Flights No Longer Available On Orbitz Grizzly 4, Airbus Military A400M Makes First Flight FAA Certifies Reindeer Powered Sleigh For Christmas Eve Flight A Growing Trend Of Ultralight Aircraft Used To Smuggle Drugs CAE To Acquire CHC Helicopter's Training Operations Historic Vote Repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy Passed By The Senate Kaman Delivers First Wing Sections On The A-10 Aircraft Lufthansa?s A320 And A321 To Be Powered By The CFM56-5B Engine NORAD Prepares To Track Santa Claus And His Merry Reindeer Airlines Move To 2D Bar Coded Boarding Passes Pinnacle, Mesaba, Colgan Pilot Negotiators Reach Tentative Agreement Boeing Submits Proposal NASA Commercial Crew Development Program European Aviation Market Profitability Improves But Continues To Lag Canadian Travelers Conflicted Over Airport Security Measures For Kids