Pilots' group calls for runway extensions in wake of deadly Brazil crash

BRUSSELS, Belgium — An international pilots' group responded to a deadly plane crash in Brazil by urging authorities worldwide to install long safety strips at the ends of airport runways.

The pilot of the Brazilian airliner that burst into flames after trying to land Tuesday on a short, rain-slicked runway in Sao Paulo apparently tried to take off again, barely clearing a highway before crashing. At least 189 people died.

The "tragic accident at Sao Paulo Congonhas Airport demonstrates once again the need for Runway End Safety Areas," said a statement issued today by the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations.

The Britain-based association, which represents 105,000 commercial pilots worldwide, has been lobbying for years for airports to be equipped with at least one 1,000-foot runway overrun area.

The so-called "runway excursion" is common in aviation, which an average of one each week. The vast majority end without injury or damage, but in recent years there have been a number of serious accidents.

In March, 21 people died when a jetliner failed to stop on the runway in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, plunging into a rice paddy and catching fire. And in 2005, a jetliner shot off the runway in Toronto, skidded some 600 feet, hit and ravine and burst into flames. Remarkably, none of the 309 people aboard were killed.

"This is a worldwide problem with thousands of runways used in airline operations failing to comply with the recommendations set out by the International Civil Aviation Organization," the statement from the pilots' association said.

The statement said the group recognized that older airports in built up areas do not have the space for runway extensions. Instead, such airports should install soft ground beds — known as arrestor beds — to slow planes, much as escape ramps on highways can stop trucks when their brakes fail, the association said.

Spokesman Gideon Ewers said he understood that some places could not create a 300-yard extension, but said "the arrestor bed is an alternative that would provide the same level of safety."

An arrestor system has prevented several planes from ending up in the bay adjacent to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, Ewers said.

Critics have called the 6,362-foot runway at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport dangerously short. (In contrast, Seattle's third runway, currently under construction, is 8,500 feet long. )