Runway End Safety Area

Runway End Safety Area (RESA) is a symmetric area surrounding the end of a runway strip, prepared to reduce the risk of damage to an aircraft that overshoots, undershoots, or veers off the runway. It provides a deceleration area for overrunning aircraft.

• ICAO recommends a minimum RESA of 90 m × twice the runway width
• Ideally 240 m long (recommended by ICAO)
• Must be free of obstacles, graded, and drained
• EMAS (Engineered Materials Arrestor System): crushable concrete blocks used where RESA space is limited
• Inadequate RESA has contributed to multiple overrun accidents