What a day it turned out to be.
I took 4 young ladies ranging in age from 7 to 12 to the local airport
(KGMU) to watch some planes take off and land.
At our first observation area there wasn't a plane in sight so we decided to
leave and go to the mall (the girls were really excited about this).
But as we were leaving and passing a second observation area that is by the
threshold of runway 19 we could see a jet landing, a falcon jet I believe.
So I naturally pulled in so that they could see the jet land, meanwhile my
two cameras were shut down and put away.
I mention the cameras only because normally I'll sit there and video tape
any planes taking off or landing and even take some digital photos.
So as we are watching this jet land my (11 year old) daughter says to me
that its kind of odd that he is two thirds down the runway and hasn't
touched down yet.
It was at this point that I figured either they were going to do a go-around
or these pilots knew that they could stop with less than a 1000 feet
remaining.
The jet touched down and the thrust reversers kicked in, when the plane was
almost directly in front of us I knew then that we were about to witness a
accident.
I was still hoping for the best because I did not bring the girls to the
airport to witness something as negative as this was turning out to be.
The jet went off the end of the runway into what appears to be an
intentional sand pit that is about 50 feet long, it is there as a last ditch
effort to keep planes from going off the 75 foot embankment which ends up on
a road at an almost vertical angle.
I was so caught up in the moment that it didn't occur to me to run the video
camera until it was all said and done.
I am happy to report that there were no injuries to anyone onboard the
plane. The aircraft and sand pit were however, but they can be replaced.
I don't know how true this part is but one of the emergency crewmembers told
us that the pilot said he suffered a brake failure.
If that is really what they blamed it on then I would say yes the brakes
will fail when you land with only 1000 feet of runway left and you blow the
tires trying to stop (rims don't make very good braking contact).

David - KORL-KGSP