68
votes
Why isn't airport relocation done gradually?
Gradual relocation essentially mean having to staff and equip nearly two full airports during the transition period. It is also annoying for the travelers that want to transfer planes and need to ...
- 27.4k
59
votes
Accepted
What precautions prevent 'insiders' from stealing a large aircraft, as in the Horizon Air Q400 incident?
As an aircraft mechanic at a major airline, I think I can answer this pretty well.
It wouldn’t be hard at all. All I have to do is wait for an aircraft move. This could be to bring a plane into the ...
- 2,373
48
votes
Accepted
What is the purpose of a walled area in the vicinity of Heathrow Airport?
It allows them to do a run-up test of the engines without blowing debris at other parked aircraft, people, or things on the ground.
[Credit to Ralph J]
The walls have a structure that allows the ...
- 36k
46
votes
Accepted
Are there any privately owned large commercial airports?
Building an airport is a very expensive endeavor and usually involves government subsidies or is completely done by the local government. In recent decades, most government owned airports in Europe ...
- 54.3k
45
votes
Accepted
What was this mystery flash on an airport runway?
It's likely to be a flare / flash bang for bird control. Schiphol uses these (amongst a wide variety of methods).
Bird dispersal equipment
There are various resources a bird controller
can ...
- 82.8k
44
votes
Accepted
Why isn't airport relocation done gradually?
Moving airline by airline doesn't help that much:
You still have the same chaos, just on a per-airline basis.
The airports you mention are dominated by large carriers that have turned them into hubs ...
- 8,287
36
votes
Accepted
How do airports detect drones?
The number of drone sightings near airports is increasing (apart from last year), and frequently this results in temporary interruption of operations at airports, with enormous economic consequences. ...
- 82.8k
35
votes
Why isn't airport relocation done gradually?
Gradually moving between airports is a living nightmare for connecting travelers.
Exactly that was done at Montreal Mirabel airport, a fabulous, spacious new replacement airport for Montreal Dorval (...
35
votes
Accepted
Aborted take off. What happens next?
A lot depends on whether the reject happened during the high energy or low energy phase of the takeoff. The boundary between the two is the reason for the speed call "xx knots", usually 80 knots or ...
- 126k
30
votes
What happened to this plane during landing? Failed first time?
There are many, many reasons why a pilot might go around.
The approach wasn't stable.
The last plane that landed was slow to get off the runway, and the pilot or ATC decided that landing would create ...
- 12.8k
26
votes
What was this mystery flash on an airport runway?
Likely a flash-bang for runway bird control.
Birds on and near the runway are an ongoing major safety problem (witness the "Miracle on the Hudson", an A320 brought down by a flock of geese shutting ...
- 17k
25
votes
How long after the last departure shall the airport stay open for an emergency return?
Where I work, we have to stay in the tower for 15 minutes after the last departure in case they need to return. To my knowledge, there are no international regulations about this, so the rules may ...
- 36.2k
24
votes
Are there any privately owned large commercial airports?
London Heathrow (LHR) is owned by a private company, Heathrow Airport Holdings. I'm sure there are many other examples around the world.
- 71.6k
23
votes
Accepted
Did Kai Tak have a straight-in approach to runway 13 for higher-performance aircraft?
did Kai Tak have a straight-in approach to runway 13 for use by steep-approach-certified aircraft?
During the 1990s I regularly flew the Hong Kong IGS approach in 747s. At that time, to the best of ...
- 39.2k
23
votes
Accepted
Is there a minimal approach speed for airliners during rush hour?
ATC can not only ask for a minimum speed, but rather instruct each aircraft to (more or less) exactly fly at a particular speed. This is essential for maintaining separation. As J. Hougaard pointed ...
- 54.3k
18
votes
Why don’t airports use jetways as an airlock to avoid having to repressurize the plane for every flight?
I believe there are quite a few misconceptions here:
When an aircraft is "pressurised", it means that at higher altitudes, the pressure inside the aircraft is higher than the pressure outside. At ...
- 2,251
18
votes
What do these numbers above the terminal jetway mean for pilots?
To add to ymb1's answer about the -67, the other information on the sign indicates whether the flight will be arriving or departing (in or out), the flight number (2110), departure/destination airport ...
- 71.8k
18
votes
Accepted
Is it permissible to walk along a taxiway at an uncontrolled airport to reach airport facilities?
Where you can and can't go on an uncontrolled airport is up to the owner, or the manager, beyond common sense things like not walking on the active runway.
In any case, if I was told to park on the ...
- 126k
16
votes
What happens to a large plane after a successful gear-up landing?
This answer varies wildly depending on the size and type of aircraft involved, but in general:
How is the runway cleared?
They remove the aircraft, then sweep the runway for smaller debris and then ...
- 171
14
votes
What precautions prevent 'insiders' from stealing a large aircraft, as in the Horizon Air Q400 incident?
You can probably guess - none. Like most industries, aviation relies on an assumption of good faith from the employees. The incessant string of terrorist attacks throughout this century changed some ...
14
votes
Accepted
Why did this aircraft take off in the opposite direction compared to the one used by other flights right before/after it?
It looks like the reason for the Rwy 6 departure was noise abatement. The climb gradient from 6 is not as steep as for 24. The Jeppesen charts state the requirements:
And it states that if you are ...
- 12.6k
14
votes
What happened to this plane during landing? Failed first time?
It is not at all unusual for commercial planes to do a "go-around" if the landing picture is not to professional standards.
Remember that a commercial plane frequently has between 100 and ...
- 30.4k
12
votes
What is the minimum altitude over Egmond aan Zee when landing at Schiphol?
Approaches into Schiphol are usually vectored by ATC during the day (see below for night operations). This means the controllers are giving instructions to pilots depending on the current traffic, ...
- 54.3k
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