Aviation accidents

A recurring problem in airline safety was illustrated by the accident in Kingston, Jamaica, Tuesday when an American Airlines plane slid off the runway in bad weather.

The Boeing 737-800 skidded off the runway, headed across a road and stopped near a beach. Although the damage to the aircraft was heavy, the casualties could have been much worse: of 148 passengers and six crew members, dozens of passengers received minor injuries and seven were hospitalized.

The Wall Street Journal reports that runway overruns account for a high number of commercial aircraft accidents — 30 percent from 1995 to 2008. The incidents often involve wet conditions that hamper braking and can occur when planes approach too fast for conditions or land too far down the strip. Planes can also overshoot the runway when pilots decide to abandon takeoffs.

Wind conditions, water on the runway, braking deficiencies are all potential factors for such accidents. Safety advocates have stressed the need for pilot discipline to make sound decisions rather than risk a runway overrun.

Manufacturers have produced safety devices such as an automated braking system for slippery surfaces and visual and aural aids to help pilot decision-making. But experts say that technology can only do so much: keeping the plane safe under hazardous conditions generally depends on the pilot's judgment.

It will be interesting to see what investigators find about the recent runway overrun in Jamaica.