The Ministry of Ports and Airports will allocate R$400 million in investments to improve Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro. The funds will be released gradually until 2027. According to a statement released by the ministry on Monday (2), the funds will be used for a series of interventions aimed at “meeting the demand and growth in passenger movement, increasing the safety and agility of aircraft traffic on the ground and technological adaptation at the terminal”.
One of the main measures planned is the implementation of the EMAS (Engineered Material Arresting System). This is a technology that slows down and brakes aircraft entering a safety area created at the end of the runway. The aim is to force an emergency stop.
The system is used in several airports around the world and was designed to prevent serious accidents involving planes that overshoot the runway. The safety area is filled with weak concrete blocks. As a result, they disintegrate or deform under the weight of the aircraft, which consequently becomes stuck.
United States (USA), 02.09.2024 – Plane is stopped by the EMAS System at an airport in the United States. Photo: FAA/Disclosure
The technology has been considered particularly suitable for airports where the length of the runways is limited due to natural or artificial obstacles. This is the case of Santos Dumont, located on the shores of Guanabara Bay and in a densely populated urban region.
In 2022, the EMAS system was implemented at Congonhas Airport in São Paulo, also known for having shorter runways. A tragic accident occurred at the airport in 2007 when a plane ran off the runway during landing and crashed into a building. In the incident, 199 people died.
In addition to implementing EMAS, the resources allocated to Santos Dumont will be used to expand remote arrival and departure lounges, renovate restrooms, modernize the surveillance system, replace escalators and elevators, and adopt a new system for inspecting checked baggage. Improvements to the aircraft taxiway are also planned.
