Overrun Protection Corrals Runaway GIV at Teterboro

A Gulfstream IV ran off the end of Runway 6 at Teterboro (New Jersey) Airport last Friday. But unlike a Challenger on an aborted takeoff in 2005, the Gulfstream stopped short of the airport fence. The Challenger from five years ago plowed through the fence, across a busy highway and embedded itself in a warehouse. The occupant of a car on Route 46 was seriously injured when it was struck by the jet as it passed by. The difference this time was an $8 million arrestor bed — a built up surface of soft concrete at the runway end that an aircraft's landing gear will sink into. A witness said the Gulfstream, registered to a Delaware Corporation, bounced on landing and was not able to stop before reaching the end of the runway. There were seven passengers and two pilots on board. No one was injured, and damage appeared limited to the landing gear.