A safety system that can help stop planes that veer off the runway isn’t installed at Miami International Airport.
The Engineered Material Arresting System is a runway safety area for aircraft that undershoot, overrun or veer off the runway.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, EMAS use crushable material at the end of a runway to help stop an aircraft. The tires of the aircraft sink into the lightweight material and the aircraft rapidly decelerates as it rolls through the EMAS bed.
It’s unknown whether an EMAS at MIA would have helped in Sunday’s crash of an Amazon cargo plane at the airport that killed five people and left five others hurt.
Many airports were built before runway safety area standards were adopted in the 1980s and in some cases there may not be enough land or there may be obstacles that prevent their installation.
According to the FAA, a standard EMAS installation will stop most aircraft overrunning the runway at 70 knots, or approximately 80 miles per hour.
The FAA says EMAS have been installed at more than 120 airports nationwide and have been credited with helping save at least 497 lives aboard planes that overran runways.