# The Great Ongoing Aviation Thread (general and other) (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 23, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499 "2011-10-23T02:17:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 428
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8543 "2025-10-20T00:30:02Z")
> **[Something from “space” may have just struck a United Airlines flight over Utah](https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/10/something-from-space-may-have-just-struck-a-united-airlines-flight-over-utah/)** > > “NTSB gathering radar, weather, flight recorder data.”… ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8544 "2025-10-20T00:42:53Z")
“Assuming this was not a [Shohei Ohtani home run ball](https://defector.com/shohei-ohtani-plays-the-greatest-baseball-game-of-all-time)…” Heh! ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8545 "2025-10-20T02:23:53Z")
Short term disability should be interesting. “No really, I got hit by a meteor”. “I have pictures and everything”. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8546 "2025-10-20T04:08:15Z")
### **News** > **[Two ground staff killed after Dubai cargo plane crashes off runway at HK...](https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/article/314555/Two-ground-staff-killed-after-Dubai-cargo-plane-crashes-off-runway-at-HK-airport-hits-service-vehicle)** > > A cargo plane arriving from Dubai ran off the runway and tumbled into the sea at Hong Kong International Airport early Monday, crashing into a ground-service vehicle and leaving two ground workers dead. It’s a B747 cargo aircraft and looks pretty serious with the tail sheared off. Probably a good thing it wasn’t a passenger jet. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8547 "2025-10-20T09:08:20Z")
Another article on this, without pop-up ads: > **[Two dead after Emirates cargo plane skids off Hong Kong runway into sea](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y0eeqz732o)** > > The Emirates flight hit a vehicle on the ground as it landed at the international airport. Unfortunate phrasing: “It also said the Boeing 747-481 cargo aircraft was wet leased from, and operated by, Turkish carrier Act Airlines. A **wet lease** is an arrangement where one airline provides the aircraft, crew, and insurance to another airline.” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8548 "2025-10-20T11:21:44Z")
Some source (I can’t find it now) says the main gear collapsed on one side after landing, causing the plane to veer off the runway. At that slow speed, the rudder doesn’t have much authority (correct me if I’m wrong), and the pilots likely had no time to try differential thrusting. Also, sad to see another 747 gone (obviously, not as sad as the fact that two lives were lost). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8549 "2025-10-20T13:54:36Z")
A 747 has four main gear legs. If one collapsed ot wouldn’t necessarily cause that side of the plane to fall. I think this happened on landing, so the weight would be low after burning off fuel. The rudder becomes less effective at low speeds, but there is differential braking and a steerable nose wheel. I don’t know if they would be enough to compensate for a landing gear failure on one side, if that is what happened. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8550 "2025-10-20T16:21:15Z")
I’m not sure how losing an outer gear affects the ability to steer. The inner main gears are under the fuselage. The engines hang pretty low so the second one of them touches the ground it’s going to drag the plane sideways. Even if the crew retracted the thrust reversers on the side of the disabled gear it would be huge mess and not something the crew would naturally do. The question is why was there a truck where they could hit. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Boeing_747_main_landing_gear.jpg/640px-Boeing_747_main_landing_gear.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Boeing_747_main_landing_gear.jpg/640px-Boeing_747_main_landing_gear.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8551 "2025-10-20T17:57:34Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > The question is why was there a truck where they could hit. The BBC article says the gear collapsed, then the 747 veered off the runway, across the grass, through the airport perimeter cyclone fence, across an airport road that unluckily had a security patrol vehicle in the wrong place at the wrong time, then slid into the bay. There’s no suggestion the ground vehicle was doing anything except being terminally unlucky. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8552 "2025-10-20T19:06:45Z")
Not for me, thanks! > **[This New Flight is Now the Longest In the World](https://www.aol.com/articles/flight-now-longest-world-131352976.html)** > > You're going to need your compression socks for this one. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8553 "2025-10-21T04:51:43Z")
I’d have to be sedated for 19 hrs of that flight. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8554 "2025-10-21T07:38:47Z")
Must have been fun sitting under that. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Cq3Lv6RIF5A/maxresdefault.jpg "Air China flight diverted after lithium battery catches fire on board") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq3Lv6RIF5A) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8555 "2025-10-21T11:07:56Z")
One of these days there’s going to be a real disaster involving lithium battery fires in carry-ons. Airlines carry gear to try to manage a fire in something like a tablet or laptop. But that depends on a hefty dose of personal bravery from the person using the gear. If the burning device is buried inside a large suitcase and the first anyone knows the whole suitcase is involved, it gets real problematic to deal with that much volume of burning stuff and getting to the actual source may well be impossible with the tools and training at hand. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8556 "2025-10-21T11:31:43Z")
The most likely culprit was a weather balloon: > **[It wasn’t space debris that struck a United Airlines plane—it was a weather...](https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/10/the-mystery-object-that-struck-a-plane-in-flight-it-was-probably-a-weather-balloon/)** > > WindBorne says its balloons are compliant with all applicable airspace regulations. Brian ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8557 "2025-10-21T11:52:43Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Not for me, thanks! As between ~20 hours nonstop and ~30 hours with connections, ISTM the nonstop is the easier way. But yeah, going halfway around the planet is not a journey to undertake willy-nilly. Even in our modern comfy era. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8558 "2025-10-21T13:42:36Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > There’s no suggestion the ground vehicle was doing anything except being **terminally** unlucky. ISWYDT. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8559 "2025-10-21T19:42:46Z")
Whoops: > **[Plane makes emergency landing after pilots lose contact with flight...](https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/20/us/omaha-emergency-landing)** > > An American Airlines flight, operated by SkyWest Airlines, made an emergency landing Monday night in Nebraska, after the pilots could not reach the flight attendants and heard someone outside the cockpit door, according to the Federal Aviation... [pet peeve on] That is not “An American Airlines flight operated by SkyWest Airlines”. That is an American Eagle regional affiliate-branded flight operated by SkyWest Airlines". ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2025, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8560 "2025-10-22T13:06:07Z")
A loss of intercom between cockpit and crew is one minor theme in the current MentourPilot video: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CXTitUxeoJo/maxresdefault.jpg "“Fire! We’re Losing EVERYTHING!” | Valujet flight 592") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXTitUxeoJo) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2025, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8561 "2025-10-22T13:08:33Z")
Considering the importance of quality _reliable_ comms across the locked door, the current intercom systems are not really up to the full demands of the task. Nor does the cockpit have video surveillance of the cabin & cargo areas. There are teeny exceptions, but given how easy modern vid cams are, those ought to be mandatory throughout those spaces. The pilots can’t manage what they can’t understand for lack of valid input data. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2025, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8562 "2025-10-22T13:28:39Z")
Older plane (in terms of design, nevermind age of the specific airframe), older standards, older reliability metrics that maybe (I’m speculating) did not consider the level of reliability of a PA system that would be compatible with the newer closed-door regulations. The system would be perfectly acceptable without that door, which is how it was originally approved. To be clear, I’m just guessing at that but it’s a line of inquiry I’d start on an investigation. Regulators try to avoid retrofit requirements and the industry lobbies _hard_ against them. I feel EASA is more aggressive about new safety standards and more willing to impose new tech or standards on existing aircraft but I don’t think this is an area where there’s any difference across regulators. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499.md?page=427) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499.md?page=429)