MIAMI — The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has certified the Runway Overrun Prevention System (ROPS) technology for the Airbus A330 family aircraft, a key milestone in making ROPS available for line-fit and retrofit to all Airbus models.

This technology devised by Airbus is an on board cockpit-alerting system that reduces exposure to runway-overrun risk, and if necessary, provides active protection to prevent a major event. The first A330 to be equipped with this novel technology seems to be MSN 1647, a -300 variant built for Korean Air.

Runway excursion, which occurs when an aircraft veers off the side of the runway or overruns as the very end, remains as the primary cause of civil airliner hull losses, particularly as other formerly prevalent categories of aircraft accidents have now largely been eliminated. Furthermore, various industry bodies including the EASA, NTSB, Eurocontrol and FAA recognize this and are fully supportive of the introduction of effective measures from planemakers and operators to minimize the risk of runway excursions.

“Already in service on the A380, A350 and A320 Families, ROPS is the result of years of continuing research by Airbus,” assured Didier Lux, Airbus’ SVP Head of Customer Services. “This EASA certification for ROPS on the A330 Family is an example where innovative technology and services meet for the benefit of operators and aviation safety, and is thus an important step to offering the enhanced operational benefits across all our aircraft." He added.