Pilot stuff...

Goose: "Okay Maverick, time for some of that pilot stuff..."

I was reviewing the airport diagram for Stuart Florida this morning. I noticed a depicted feature that I have never seen before. In all honesty, a helicopter pilot, flying under visual flight rules, doesn't often review airport diagrams, especially at a place routinely flown from - at least I don't. But I should. This is the kind of "gotcha" that pops up on a check-ride oral eval. Check airmen love the look on a pilot's face when they ask him or her a question about their home field or area and they don't know the answer. Years ago, Colin asked me what the irregular blue line off the east coast of the US depicted - I answered, "I don't know - I don't fly out there." It didn't work... (Change in the floor of controlled airspace)

On the Witham Field diagram, at each end of runway 12/30, there is a small rectangular item listed as "EMAS."

Geez - they keep changing this stuff...

Googling EMAS reveals that someone has figured out a new way to make a buck, by selling a product that brings a runaway airplane to a stop after it leaves the end of the runway - assuming it's on the ground.

from the article linked below...

"EMAS (engineered materials arresting system) is a runway safety device that has gained wide acceptance in recent
years and is being installed mainly at runways with limited or no stopways and /
or where dangerous terrain or obstructions exist beyond the stopway /EMAS area.
It consists of high - energy - absorbing materials installed in the RSA"

So, what does EMAS mean to me? Well I probably wouldn't want to land my helicopter on it. I imagine it works like one of those glue-based mouse traps, soft and sticky.

Click here for a good review of information on airport diagrams  , for instance if you don't know what the new Big "D" is for, or what RSA means.

Safe Flights....