Chicago Executive Airport wants to install $12 million bumpers

The Chicago Executive Airport wants to install a $12 million safety system to prevent airplanes from overshooting a runway.

The system will last 20 years and is used at O’Hare International and Midway airports. It consists of crushable concrete and will work year-round, said Dennis Rouleau, the airport’s manager.

“For the airplane, it would be like running into a snowbank,” he said. “It causes minimal damage and prevents it from going any further like on to Palatine or Hintz roads.”

Planes have overrun runways at Chicago Executive Airport twice in the past — in 2006 and in 1979. In the most recent incident, an airplane was seriously damaged after it ran into a grassy area. In 1979, an airplane overshot a runway, crossed Palatine Road and crashed into a building that has since been demolished. No one was hurt in either accident, Rouleau said.

Chicago Executive Airport has three runways, but the system would only be used on the busiest one. Federal funds would pay for 95 percent of the project’s cost, and state funds would cover another 2.5 percent. Chicago Executive Airport would contribute $300,000, which would come from airport’s reserve accounts, Rouleau said.

Rouleau will find out in June or July if his airport received the federal funds. If it does, work will begin later this summer.

The plan also needs the approval of the Wheeling Village Board and Prospect Heights City Council. Prospect Heights already approved the project and Wheeling will discuss it on Monday.