Port of Grant County Exploring Arrestor Cable System for Grant County International Airport

Officials involved with Grant County International Airport have approached Grant County Port officials about the possibility of permanently installing a cable system mainly used on aircraft carriers, called an arrestor system.

Moses Lake Air Show Organizer Terry Quick said the system is a requirement at air shows for aircraft that are designed to land on short runways or aircraft carriers. The regulation states that some aircraft cannot fly without an arrestor system within 80 nautical miles in case something goes wrong.

"The closest permanent arrestor system to Moses Lake is Joint Base Lewis-McChord in the Seattle area, and that's 180 nautical miles from here." Quick explained, "So it's too far away."

In the past, temporary arrestor systems have been installed by the air show for about $50,000 to $60,000. The temporary system shuts down a runway for the show's duration because the cable simply stretches across the roadway.

A permanent arrestor system could cost about $500,000. If installed, a permanent system would not shut down a runway to other aircraft. The cable actually sits below the runway's level and is raised and lowered by a system of hydraulics.

"They're already going through a rather large runway renovation and fix out there on the airfield currently. The question becomes 'Does it make sense, since they are tearing it up anyway? Would it save money to consider putting in the arrestor system while they're doing everything else, versus coming back and retrofitting it.'"

Quick added that funding for a permanent system could possibly come from the Pentagon or the FAA.

The lack of an arrestor system should not impact the Moses Lake Air Show this year, as there are no aircraft booked that would require one.