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Fact Sheet

For immediate Release

March 25, 2008

Contact: Marcia Adams

Phone: (202) 267-3488

EXHIBIT

Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS)

Background

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires that commercial airports, regulated under Part

139 safety rules, have a standard Runway Safety Area (RSA) where possible. At most commercial

airports the RSA is 500 feet wide and extends 1,000 feet beyond each end of the runway. The FAA

has this requirement in the event that an aircraft overruns, undershoots, or veers off the side of the

runway. The most dangerous of these incidents are overruns, but since many airports were built

before the 1,OOO-footRSA length was adopted some 20 years ago, the area beyond the end of the

runway is where many airports cannot achieve the full standard RSA. This is due to obstacles such

as bodies of water, highways, railroads and populated areas or severe drop-off of terrain.

The FAA has a high-priority program to enhance safety by upgrading the RSAs at commercial

airports and provide federal funding to support those upgrades. However, it still may not be

practical for some airports to achieve the standard RSA. The FAA, knowing that it would be difficult

to achieve a standard RSA at every airport, began conducting research in the 1990s to determine

how to ensure maximum safety at airports where the full RSA cannot be obtained. Working in

concert with the University of Dayton, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the

Engineered Arresting Systems Corporation (ESCO) of Logan Township, NJ, a new technology

emerged to provide an added measure of safety. An Engineered Materials Arresting System

(EMAS) uses materials of closely controlled strength and density placed at the end of a runway to

stop or greatly slow an aircraft that overruns the runway. The best material found to date is a

lightweight, crushable concrete. When an aircraft rolls into an EMAS arrestor bed, the tires of the

aircraft sink into the lightweight concrete and the aircraft is decelerated by having to roll through the

material.

Benefits of the EMAS Technology

The EMAS technology provides safety benefits in cases where land is not available, where it would

be very expensive for the airport sponsor to buy the land off the end of the runway, or where it is

otherwise not possible to have the standard 1,OOO-footoverrun. A standard EMAS installation

extends 600 feet from the end of the runway. An EMAS arrestor bed can still be installed to help

slow or stop an aircraft that overruns the runway, even if less than 600 feet of land is available.

Current FAA Initiatives

The Office of Airports prepared an RSA improvement plan for the runways at approximately 575

commercial airports in 2005. This plan allows the agency to track the progress and to direct federal

funds for making all practicable improvements, including the use of EMAS technology.

Presently, the EMAS system developed by ESCO using crushable concrete is the only system that

meets the FAA standard. However, FAA is conducting research through the Airport Cooperative

Research Program (project number 07-03) that will examine alternatives to the existing approved

system. The results of this effort are expected in 2009. More information on the project can be

found at the Transportation Research Board web site athttpJ/WwwJf!;l.org/CRP/ACRP/ACRP.asp.

Many of the EMAS beds installed prior to 2006 need periodic re-painting to maintain the integrity

and functionality of the bed. FAA is working with ESCO to develop a retrofit of the older beds with

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FAA - Fact Sheet Page 2 of3

plastic lids that are used on newer installations. This lid should eliminate the need for the periodic

re-painting.

EMAS Arrestments

To date, there have been four incidents where the technology has worked successfully to arrest

aircraft which overrun the runway and in several cases has prevented injury to passengers and

damage to the aircraft.

May 1999: A Saab 340 commuter aircraft overran the runway at JFK

"' May 2003: Gemini Cargo MD-11 overran the runway at JFK

January 2005: A Boeing 747 overran the runway at JFK

m July 2006: Mystere Falcon 900 airplane overran the runway at the Greenville Downtown Airport

in South Carolina

EMAS Installations

Currently, EMAS is installed at 30 runway ends at 21 airports in the United Stated, with plans to

install 14 EMAS systems at 8 additional US. airports.

Airport Location

JFK International Jamaica, NY

Minneapolis St. Paul Minneapolis, MN

Little Rock Little Rock, AR

Rochester International Rochester, NY

Burbank Burbank, CA

Baton Rouge Metropolitan Baton Rouge, LA

Greater Binghamton Binghamton, NY

Greenville Downtown Greensville, SC

Barnstable Municipal Hyannis, MA

Roanoke Regional Roanoke, VA

Fort Lauderdale International Fort Lauderdale, FL

Dutchess County Poughkeepsie, NY

LaGuardia Flushing, NY

Boston Logan Boston, MA

Laredo International Laredo, TX

San Diego International San Diego, CA

Teterboro Teterboro, NJ

Chicago Midway Chicago, IL

Merle K (Mudhole) Smith Cordova, AK

Charleston Yeager Charleston, WV

Manchester Manchester, NH

* General aviation airport

No. of Systems Installation Date

2 1996/2007

1 1999

2 2000/2003

1 2001

1 2002

1 2002

2 2002

1 2003*

1 2003

1 2004

2 2004

1 2004

2 2005

2 2005/2006

1 2006

1 2006

1 2006

4 2006/2007

1 2007

1 2007

1 2007

Additional Projects Currently Under Contract

Location No. of Systems Expected Installation Date

Wilkes-Barre Scranton, PA 1 Spring 2008

Chicago O'Hare 2 Spring 2008

Newark Liberty, NJ 1 Spring 2008

San Luis Obispo, CA 2 Spring 2008

Minneapolis St. Paul, MN 2 Spring 2008

Lafayette, LA 2 TBD

Telluride, CO 2 TBD

Groton-New London, CT 2 TBD

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