FAA Policies

The FAA requires a 1,000-foot long Runway Safety Area (RSA) at the end of each Part 139 airport runway. Many airports cannot comply with this safety area length requirement due to naturally occurring obstacles, such as rivers, highways, railroads and populated areas.

In the past, obtaining a 1,000 foot long RSA was FAA's first choice, regardless of the cost. However on March 15, 2004, FAA issued a dramatic policy change under Order No. 5200.9 "FINANCIAL FEASIBILITY AND EQUIVALENCY OF RUNWAY SAFETY AREA IMPROVEMENTS AND ENGINEERED MATERIAL ARRESTING SYSTEMS."

This new policy provided EMAS equivalency and places a dollar limit on how much can be spent on RSA improvements. It also requires life cycle cost analysis to determine the most cost effective solution, whether it is EMAS or a 1,000-foot long safety area.

With the standard EMAS solution, an EMAS with stopping capability of 70 knots and a safety area only 600 feet long would be required, provided vertical guidance is available for undershoot protection. The policy also introduces the need to evaluate a non-standard EMAS whenever a standard solution (1000 ft RSA or standard EMAS) cannot be achieved within the maximum feasible cost. FAA believes that EMAS can still provide acceptable safety enhancement as long as 40 knots stopping capability is provided with the non-standard EMAS solution.

Under current FAA policy, RSA improvement is required when the runway's life is extended by a runway rehabilitation, overlay or other major runway work. However, FAA also encourages stand-alone RSA improvement projects to further improve safety.

EMAS is AIP-eligible and is described in FAA Advisory Circular AC150/5220-22 "Engineered Materials Arresting System." This circular provides a performance specification for this system, along with some rationale as to its purpose and applications. ESCO's EMAS fully satisfies this Advisory Circular and the FAR Part 139 requirements.

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