… are you posting from your plane?
‘Recalculating…’
[sup]1[/sup] Stolen from a comment on the article I read.
[sup]2[/sup] I posted a thread in MPSIMS before I came to GQ.
Why don’t they just change the gravitational constant of the universe
I don’t know about the 747 LCF specifically, but the required runway length for a 747 at maximum takeoff weight is 10,500 feet. That requirement is longer than the aircraft actually needs to take off. The article I linked to in MPSIMS says they have enough room. Since they say it should be able to take off around noon, I’m guessing that they’re not going to offload the cargo. I have no doubt they’ll offload fuel, though.
Because no one remembers the administrator password.
Could/should controller in tower have noticed that radar blip was in wrong place?
With a 6,000+ft runway and decent winds, they shouldn’t have any problems getting out.
Here is the recorded ATC, it’s pretty hilarious, although you have to feel a bit sorry for those guys. Sounds like they mucked up the approach:
Is there an audio source that doesn’t require registration?
To quote a long-ago David Letterman Top 10 List: “How about Superman getting off his ass?”
Tug … in an airport not equipped for large aircraft, simply turning around is probably an issue, especially turning around on the end of the runway.
The bigger issue (and more easily fixed) is the obstacles at the end of the runway. As they teach you in pilot training, so what if the wheels are off, if you aren’t going to clear the trees and telephone wires? I suspect with minimal load, minimal fuel, the thing will be off the asphalt in 6000 feet. Remember, published minimum runway standards allows for an abort option at some percent of runway take-off.
I suspect they will get special FAA dispensation for a one-time (and they only get one time) take-off to skip the minimums.
“I’m taking an awful risk, Vader. This had better work.”
Still though, I have seen the construction of airport aprons rated for the big planes and we are talking about 24’’ thick concrete. I doubt runways made for live loads need to be less beefy.
Sorry, forgot about the reg requirements there.
BBC News has an audio clip:
I looked up the charts for KAAO (Jabara) and KIAB (McConnell AFB) There is an approach (GPS 19L) into KIAB that is initially perfectly aligned with Jabara and passes right over it. There are also approach fixes for both airports with similar names and if you accidentally punched the one for Jabara in, it will give you a perfectly reasonable glidescope. Also the landing was at night (all you are going to see out the window are approach lights), and if you are unfamiliar with the area and not paying close enough attention to your approaches, I can see how one can end up making a perfectly good landing on the wrong runway. Whoops.
It’s not common, but it happens…
http://www.wtsp.com/video/1746068423001/1/Military-plane-lands-at-wrong-airport-in-Tampa
But wait! There’s more! Nearly a hundred! :eek:
Most of us pilot-types have seen runway B in the distance when we’re heading for runway A. If you’re not paying close enough attention, or there’s cloud cover, or it’s dark, I guess I can see how you pick a similar line and land, but I’ve never done it.
Come to think of it, maybe it is common!:smack:
Hey, he’s a busy guy - cut him some slack: SNL Transcripts: Jerry Seinfeld: 04/18/92: The Lenny Wise Show - SNL Transcripts Tonight
A lost plane lands sideways across the runway…
Pilot: “Good Lord, that’s the shortest runway I’ve ever seen!”
Co-pilot: “Yeah, but look how wiiiiide it is!”
Yeah, I didn’t mean 200 tons wasn’t a lot. I was just correcting my typo - at 200 tons, it’d still sink.
LMAO. You win the thread.
There’s almost certainly a safety factor factored in to the minimum required length. What that means is that the engineers were pretty confident that the aircraft didn’t normally need that much length, but added some “just in case” to try to prevent one of those once-in-a-career plane-in-a-pond mishaps. With the world watching closely, the pilots specially selected and ready, and ATC at high alert, it’s probably going to go fine.
I’m still waiting for them to finally implement that undo button. Universe v2.0 “The New Heaven and the New Earth” is taking forever to come out