Halting a Runway Skid: Why Stopping Planes from Sliding Off Is So Hard

Runway excursions—planes overshooting runways—remain a persistent aviation safety challenge. The Washington Post piece explains how the Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS) was developed after a 1984 JFK-overrun that saw a SAS DC-10 go off the runway but with no fatalities, and EMAS has since stopped multiple overruns (the article cites 26 planes). But the Miami incident involving an Amazon cargo plane, in foggy, rainy conditions, shows that weather, visibility, and other factors can still lead to runways being overrun, underscoring EMAS’s usefulness while also highlighting its limits in fully preventing skids.