Flight security

The system that helped prevent disaster on Mike Pence's campaign plane

A field of aerated cement blocks that crumble under the weight of an aircraft helped prevent Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence’s campaign plane from barreling off a runway and onto New York City’s busy Grand Central Parkway.

Arrestor beds have been installed at dozens of airports across the country in recent years, including in Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., and at the New York-area’s three major airports.

The system has been compared to driving a vehicle into gradually deepening snow, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates LaGuardia Airport, where Pence’s plane landed Thursday night. The collapsible blocks slope upward gradually from the ground to approximately 30 inches and can safely stop an aircraft traveling at up to 80 mph, officials said.

There have been at least 10 previous incidents since 1999 in the U.S. where the beds have stopped an aircraft that overran the runway, including three at nearby Kennedy Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.