Products made by Zodiac Aerospace (Booth No. 3452) touch almost every aspect of aviation, from cabin interiors to emergency systems and fuel and electrical power management systems. And while pilots hope that they don’t have to take advantage of emergency systems, one Zodiac division–the Engineered Arresting Systems Corp. (Esco)–makes a product that has resulted in some remarkable saves that undoubtedly make flight crews extremely grateful. The Esco division based in Logan Township, N.J., makes engineered material arresting systems (EMAS)–blocks of aerated concrete placed at runway ends that can stop an aircraft with minimal damage after a runway overrun.<o:p></o:p>
Zodiac’s EMAS made a recent save on October 1, stopping a Gulfstream GIV-SP at Teterboro Airport as it overran Runway 6 on landing. The two pilots and seven passengers on board were not injured, and the airplane suffered little damage. Runway 6 was the same site of a takeoff overrun accident on Feb. 2, 2005, when a Bombardier Challenger 600 operated by Platinum Jet Management failed to lift off and ran off the end of the runway at high speed, slid across a busy roadway and crashed into a warehouse.
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