MEBA2012: Airbus introduces runway overrun prevention system on corporate jets

Airbus is committed to incorporating the latest technologies on its ACJ models, from sharklet winglets to high definition IFE systems.
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Some of this new technology has ‘trickled down’ from the new A350 and some, including the company’s innovative and patented runway overrun prevention system (ROPS), from the A380.
 
Runway excursions on landing have accounted for 33% of aircraft hull losses during the last 25 years, at an estimated total cost of $6.8 billion, excluding the cost of disrupted airport and airline operations! Many such excursions cause the loss of perfectly serviceable aircraft.
 
Airbus’s ROPS is an innovative avionics-based solution that monitors aircraft total energy and landing
performance using runway databases embedded in the terrain avoidance warning system (TAWS).
 
The system can be connected to the airport moving map and/or to the aircraft head-up display, and helps the crew with braking and go-around decision-making by giving any necessary warnings in a timely and appropriate fashion.
 
The system is fully compliant with EASA certification rules.
 
Airbus is willing to share this potentially life-saving technology (which can be retrofitted to other aircraft types) with its competitors, said François Chazelle, VP commercial with Airbus Corporate Jets, who said that the company hoped to make a more specific announcement to this effect “in the near future”.
 
Quite apart from saving lives and preventing aircraft damage or losses, ROPS promises to save operators’ money, as major insurers come to recognise the benefits. Discounted insurance premiums will pay for the cost of installing ROPS within three to five years, according to Nigel Griffiths, the deputy chief underwriter at Starr Aviation.