Learjet Skids Off Teterboro Runway, EMAS Prevents Disaster
A Learjet 60 overran Runway 24 at Teterboro Airport (TEB) in New Jersey on Monday evening, coming to rest in the airport’s Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS) and prompting a temporary halt to operations. Six occupants were on board. No injuries were reported.
The incident occurred just before 6:30 p.m. local time, according to WABC. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police confirmed the aircraft overran the runway end on landing. Port Authority Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) crews responded to the scene.
Teterboro Airport suspended operations for approximately one hour. Runway 24 reopened at 7:30 p.m. The cause of the runway excursion had not been released as of press time. The NTSB is expected to investigate.
EMAS Did Its Job — But It’s the Last Line
The EMAS bed at the end of Runway 24 performed exactly as designed. EMAS systems are constructed from crushable cellular concrete installed in runway overrun areas; when an aircraft rolls into the material, it creates controlled drag that decelerates the aircraft without structural trauma to the airframe or occupants.
But EMAS is a last resort — a safety net placed at the boundary between pavement and catastrophe. Runway safety is engineered as a layered system: approach procedures, aircraft performance margins, runway surface friction, and only then, overrun arrestment. When all prior layers hold, EMAS never gets tested.
Runway surface conditions are one of those earlier layers. Adequate friction between tire and pavement is critical during landing rollout. Contaminants — rubber buildup, fluids, foreign object debris — can degrade that friction well before conditions become visible to a crew on approach. Monday’s incident serves as a reminder that what happens across the full length of a runway surface matters, even when the end of the runway has engineering on its side.
Investigators will examine aircraft performance data, runway conditions, weather, and crew inputs. Until those findings are released, the precise failure point in the layered system remains unknown.
A Familiar Tail Number
The Learjet 60 involved in Monday’s overrun was reportedly the same aircraft involved in a runway incursion at North Eleuthera International Airport in the Bahamas in February 2026, according to AVweb. Details of that earlier incident are logged in the Aviation Safety Network database.
Two runway-related events involving the same aircraft within two months will almost certainly draw regulatory attention. Whether the incidents are mechanically linked, operationally linked, or coincidental is a question for investigators.
Teterboro’s Geography Adds Pressure
Teterboro sits roughly eight miles from Midtown Manhattan, making it one of the busiest general aviation reliever airports in the country. Its runways are shorter than those at major commercial airports, and the surrounding urban environment leaves limited margin for error on overruns. The presence of EMAS at runway ends is not incidental — it reflects the real-world risk profile of operating a dense GA airport in a metro footprint.
No injuries and a one-hour closure represent a contained outcome. That the aircraft stopped short of anything worse is, in part, a function of engineered redundancy working as intended.
The NTSB investigation is ongoing. FODNews will update this report as findings are released.
Sources
- AVweb — Learjet Overruns Runway at Teterboro (April 7, 2026)
- WABC / ABC7 New York — Teterboro Airport jet skids off end of runway
- Aviation Safety Network — North Eleuthera runway incursion, February 2026
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