Emergency Runways was created to give pilots an edge when confronted with the dangerous situation of engine failure. Flying, like much of life, is all about evaluating and mitigating risks. So this site was created to help mitigate the risks of engine failure. If your engine fails and and you're fairly close to the ground there won't be time to look at maps or at anything in the cockpit, you'll need to look out the window and land. If you're higher you'll want to consider more options. If it's night time or you're in IMC you'll have to depend on your instruments to present your options.

What you're likely to do is hit "Nearest" on your GPS and hope that at least one of the results are within gliding distance. What if it's not? Wouldn't you like to have more options? What if you had a database of previously vetted possible emergency "runways"? Would that be an edge you'd like to have? So this site was created to enable pilots when they're on the ground to create a database of possible emergency runways. These could be wide and straight roads without power lines, overpasses or other obstructions or perhaps a large open and flat field.

So you may ask, what good is this info if it's just on a website?? Right, it's not much good if it's just here. What we would like is to have GPS manufacturers take this database and make it available in the cockpit. And along with that create a new soft key on your GPS that you hit when your engine has quit that will bring up a list of places to land within gliding distance. Preferably an airport and with the fewest possible turns. Baring that it would search the database for the highest rated "Emergency Runways" within gliding distance. Isn't that better than no options? It's an edge that might just save your life.

To create a database that has both quantity and quality we need lots of pilots to enter Emergency Runways, so please Tell a Friend about this website.

Craig Maiman
Founder, EmergencyRunways.com