The primary role of the landing strip changed to that of a safety area surrounding the runway . This area had to be capable , under normal ( dry ) conditions , of supporting aircraft without causing structural damage to the airframe or injury to the occupants . Later , the designation of the area was changed to " runway safety area , " to reflect its functional role . The runway safety area enhances the safety of aircraft that undershoot , overrun , or veer off the runway , and it provides greater accessibility for firefighting and rescue equipment during such incidents . One of the difficulties is that overshooting aircraft do not always run off the end of the runway at relatively slow speed ; they leave from the side of the runway ( as in the TAM Brazilian Airlines Flight 3054 accident ) , they run off the end at such a high speed that they would overrun any safety area ( as in the Air France Flight 358 accident in Toronto ) , or they land well short of the runway ( as in the British Airways Flight 38 accident at Heathrow )
Air France Flight 358
Air France Flight 358
Runway safety area