For Immediate Release

Contact: Jacqueline L. Mayo Communications Manager (216) 265-3303/ (216) 857-7151 Carolyn L. Widdowson Media Relations Specialist (216) 265-2723

Passengers and Pilots Flying In and Out of Cleveland Hopkins Airport are in Safer Hands
Cleveland, December 15, 2011 This morning Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) reopened Runway 10-28 with the installation of a life and aircraft-saving feature called EMAS at both ends of the landing strip. EMAS, Engineered Materials Arresting System, is a bed of engineered materials built at the end of a runway. These engineered materials are high energy absorbing materials that will predictably crush under the weight of an aircraft. When an aircraft overshoots the runway and rolls into an EMAS arrestor bed, the tires of the aircraft sink into the lightweight crushable concrete blocks decelerating the aircraft. EMAS is designed to minimize aircraft mishaps, such as Southwest Airlines flight #1248 which slid off the runway at Chicago Midway Airport in December 2005 while trying to land in a snowstorm. This was the catalyst for the Federal Aviation Administration to require commercial airports have a standard Runway Safety Area (RSA) of 1,000 feet beyond each end of the runway. CLE had its own aircraft mishap when an aircraft overshot Runway 10-28 crashing into the fence separating NASA from the Airport in February 2007. We hope well never have to use EMAS, says Airport Director Ricky Smith. Todays re-opening of Runway 10-28 with the state-of-the-art EMAS safety feature demonstrates CLE is better constructed to handle aircraft overruns, undershoots, or an aircraft veering off any runway. Crosswind Runway 10-28 is the shortest and least used of the 3 runways at CLE at 6,000 feet. The north-south parallel runways, 6R-24L and 6L-24R, are 10,000 feet and 9,000 feet, respectively.

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