page_title: Airport
section_title: Safety management
hierarchical_section_title: Airport / Airport operations / Safety management
caption_attribution_description: English: Airport crash tender Panther 8x8 at Leipzig-Altenburg Airport Deutsch: Panther 8x8 (altes Modell) der Firma Rosenbauer auf dem Flughafen Leipzig-Altenburg Daten Baujahr: 1997 13.500 l Wasser und 1300 l AFFF-Schaum Pumpenleistung 6000 l/min bei 12 bar Pumpe besitzt eigenen Dieselmotor mit 320 PS Frontmonitor 1000 l/min bei 10 bar und ca. 45 m Wurfweite Schnellangriffseinrichtung 200 l/min Lichtmast mit 4 Scheinwerfer je 1000 Watt 7 Bodensprühdüsen Panther Fahrgestell von MAN 36.999 VFAEG/E2 Gewicht 33 t 12 Zylinder Dieselmotor (Turbo) Allradantrieb Vmax ca. 140 km/h 735 kW / 1000 PS bei 2300 U/min Einsatzorte seit 1997 Leipzig-Altenburg-Airport
context_page_description: An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports often have facilities to store and maintain aircraft, and a control tower. An airport consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface such as a runway for a plane to take off or a helipad, and often includes adjacent utility buildings such as control towers, hangars and terminals. Larger airports may have airport aprons, taxiway bridges, air traffic control centres, passenger facilities such as restaurants and lounges, and emergency services. In some countries, the US in particular, airports also typically have one or more fixed-base operators, serving general aviation.
  An airport solely serving helicopters is called a heliport. An airport for use by seaplanes and amphibious aircraft is called a seaplane base. Such a base typically includes a stretch of open water for takeoffs and landings, and seaplane docks for tying-up.
  An international airport has additional facilities for customs and passport control as well as incorporating all the aforementioned elements.
context_section_description: Aviation safety is an important concern in the operation of an airport, and almost every airfield includes equipment and procedures for handling emergency situations. Airport crash tender crews are equipped for dealing with airfield accidents, crew and passenger extractions, and the hazards of highly flammable aviation fuel. The crews are also trained to deal with situations such as bomb threats, hijacking, and terrorist activities.
  Hazards to aircraft include debris, nesting birds, and reduced friction levels due to environmental conditions such as ice, snow, or rain. Part of runway maintenance is airfield rubber removal which helps maintain friction levels. The fields must be kept clear of debris using cleaning equipment so that loose material does not become a projectile and enter an engine duct (see foreign object damage). In adverse weather conditions, ice and snow clearing equipment can be used to improve traction on the landing strip. For waiting aircraft, equipment is used to spray special deicing fluids on the wings.
  Many airports are built near open fields or wetlands. These tend to attract bird populations, which can pose a hazard to aircraft in the form of bird strikes. Airport crews often need to discourage birds from taking up residence.
  Some airports are located next to parks, golf courses, or other low-density uses of land. Other airports are located near densely populated urban or suburban areas.
  An airport can have areas where collisions between aircraft on the ground tend to occur. Records are kept of any incursions where aircraft or vehicles are in an inappropriate location, allowing these "hot spots" to be identified. These locations then undergo special attention by transportation authorities (such as the FAA in the US) and airport administrators.
  During the 1980s, a phenomenon known as microburst became a growing concern due to aircraft accidents caused by microburst wind shear, such as Delta Air Lines Flight 191. Microburst radar was developed as an aid to safety during landing, giving two to five minutes' warning to aircraft in the vicinity of the field of a microburst event.
  Some airfields now have a special surface known as soft concrete at the end of the runway (stopway or blastpad) that behaves somewhat like styrofoam, bringing the plane to a relatively rapid halt as the material disintegrates. These surfaces are useful when the runway is located next to a body of water or other hazard, and prevent the planes from overrunning the end of the field.
  Airports often have on-site firefighters to respond to emergencies. These use specialized vehicles, known as airport crash tenders.
caption: "FLF Panther" airport crash tender in Germany
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