Definition
Situations in which an airplane continues past the intended stopping point on a runway, landing area, or selected touchdown spot, typically because approach speed was too high, the glide was too long, or braking was insufficient to stop the aircraft within the available distance.
Plain English
Going past where you meant to stop. The airplane keeps rolling beyond the runway end or the spot you picked to touch down and stop.
Context Anchor
Seen when practicing glides, power-off approaches, emergency landing planning, and accuracy landings.
Derivation
From 'over' (beyond) plus 'run' (to travel along the ground). An overrun is literally a run that goes beyond where it should have ended.
Why Pilots Care
An overrun can lead to runway excursions, aircraft damage, or injury; proper glide path control prevents it.
Intuition Check
Overruns does not mean the engine is running too fast. Here it means the airplane continues past the intended landing or stopping point.
Example Sentence 1
The instructor emphasized aiming for a touchdown point one-third of the way into the field to leave room for rollout and avoid an overrun.
Example Sentence 2
The pilot chose a go-around after realizing the touchdown point would result in an overrun.