There is a very rare system in use at civilian airports but its not a snag-wire. The best description is a paved-over gravel bed that will stop an airplane overshooting the runway. Such systems are used for runaway semi trucks in mountainous areas also. Chicago Midway Airport would be a good candidate for the system because of its very short over-run and clearway. This will almost certainly be brought up in the accident investigation.
Do such systems not rip the landing gear off planes? To be sure, ripping the landing gear off a plane might be a minor thing compared to letting it crash into a gas station, but it would seem that there would be no controlability beyond the fact that the thing would stop. A cable would seem to offer much greater control.