Brum Airport incident
Author
Discussion

Mammasaid

Original Poster:

4,852 posts

113 months

Wednesday 6th August
quotequote all
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c4g73rvzm20t

"Following an aircraft incident, the runway is temporarily closed.

"We apologise for the inconvenience this will cause.

"We will keep passengers already at the airport informed and those due to travel later today are advised to check the status of their flight before coming to the airport.

"We will continue to issue updates when we can."

Quattromaster

2,997 posts

220 months

Wednesday 6th August
quotequote all
Lots of vehicles on the runway/taxi ways.


Mammasaid

Original Poster:

4,852 posts

113 months

Wednesday 6th August
quotequote all
Beech King Air en route to Belfast with collapsed undercarriage.


Getragdogleg

9,443 posts

199 months

Wednesday 6th August
quotequote all
Emergency landing of small/light aircraft.


Zad

12,862 posts

252 months

Wednesday 6th August
quotequote all
Undercarriage failed to fully retract, aircraft returned to Birmingham rather than continue, undercarriage wasn't locked and gradually squished down (technical term) and the aircraft made what was really quite a graceful landing, all things considered. Video on the BBC coverage page at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr5rdj0z56lo

3 people on board, 1 minor injury to the only passenger. Good work by the pilot anyway.

Various reports on the media of Karens claiming it is the worst thing ever, everything's terrible and compo compo compo. Oh, and the NEC next door has a beer festival on and they are offering a free pint to anyone who rolls up with a boarding pass.


Krikkit

27,509 posts

197 months

Thursday 7th August
quotequote all
A friend of mine was caught up in this with his family waiting to get a flight out, ended up getting cancelled and they went home.

But it sounds a bit of a stshow, he said at one point the airport was so full they were worried about a crush, not easy with young kids in tow.

Mars

9,561 posts

230 months

Thursday 7th August
quotequote all
Why does it take so long to remove the aircraft from the runway? The BBC reported it as the crash investigation needed the time but it's the same when there's a crash on the motorway. It takes so long. In this case, the cause was obvious. Why the landing gear failed could be investigated away from the runway.

hidetheelephants

30,631 posts

209 months

Thursday 7th August
quotequote all
Mars said:
Why does it take so long to remove the aircraft from the runway? The BBC reported it as the crash investigation needed the time but it's the same when there's a crash on the motorway. It takes so long. In this case, the cause was obvious. Why the landing gear failed could be investigated away from the runway.
Brum only has one runway, so this will shut it down. Interesting why one passenger was getting a Kingair to Belfast when Easyjet will get you there for a fraction of the price.

Mazinbrum

1,079 posts

194 months

Thursday 7th August
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Same reason we drive cars instead of getting buses.

Mars

9,561 posts

230 months

Thursday 7th August
quotequote all
hidetheelephants said:
Mars said:
Why does it take so long to remove the aircraft from the runway? The BBC reported it as the crash investigation needed the time but it's the same when there's a crash on the motorway. It takes so long. In this case, the cause was obvious. Why the landing gear failed could be investigated away from the runway.
Brum only has one runway, so this will shut it down. Interesting why one passenger was getting a Kingair to Belfast when Easyjet will get you there for a fraction of the price.
I know it has only one runway but why does it take so long (hours) to clear it?

Funky Squirrel

445 posts

88 months

Thursday 7th August
quotequote all
I'm curious, when a runway is shut down for something like this, is the pilot/owner fined or do they have insurance for disruption events like this?

hidetheelephants

30,631 posts

209 months

Thursday 7th August
quotequote all
Mars said:
hidetheelephants said:
Mars said:
Why does it take so long to remove the aircraft from the runway? The BBC reported it as the crash investigation needed the time but it's the same when there's a crash on the motorway. It takes so long. In this case, the cause was obvious. Why the landing gear failed could be investigated away from the runway.
Brum only has one runway, so this will shut it down. Interesting why one passenger was getting a Kingair to Belfast when Easyjet will get you there for a fraction of the price.
I know it has only one runway but why does it take so long (hours) to clear it?
Undercarriage collapses are problematic, they will need to either get a maintenance crew to jack it up and temporarily lock the undercarriage or worse still hire a crane to shift it and it all takes time. In years gone by Trumpton would have dragged it off the runway but they'd probably get sued now.

surveyor

18,393 posts

200 months

Thursday 7th August
quotequote all
AAIB also attended - they may have wanted to see the site before the plane was moved.

Mars

9,561 posts

230 months

Thursday 7th August
quotequote all
hidetheelephants said:
Mars said:
hidetheelephants said:
Mars said:
Why does it take so long to remove the aircraft from the runway? The BBC reported it as the crash investigation needed the time but it's the same when there's a crash on the motorway. It takes so long. In this case, the cause was obvious. Why the landing gear failed could be investigated away from the runway.
Brum only has one runway, so this will shut it down. Interesting why one passenger was getting a Kingair to Belfast when Easyjet will get you there for a fraction of the price.
I know it has only one runway but why does it take so long (hours) to clear it?
Undercarriage collapses are problematic, they will need to either get a maintenance crew to jack it up and temporarily lock the undercarriage or worse still hire a crane to shift it and it all takes time. In years gone by Trumpton would have dragged it off the runway but they'd probably get sued now.
All that equipment should be on-site at a major airport. The Beeb said the delay was "investigation" rather than the activities to actually clear it but yeah, believing what they write is a little niaive I guess. wink

48k

15,303 posts

164 months

Thursday 7th August
quotequote all
Mars said:
hidetheelephants said:
Mars said:
hidetheelephants said:
Mars said:
Why does it take so long to remove the aircraft from the runway? The BBC reported it as the crash investigation needed the time but it's the same when there's a crash on the motorway. It takes so long. In this case, the cause was obvious. Why the landing gear failed could be investigated away from the runway.
Brum only has one runway, so this will shut it down. Interesting why one passenger was getting a Kingair to Belfast when Easyjet will get you there for a fraction of the price.
I know it has only one runway but why does it take so long (hours) to clear it?
Undercarriage collapses are problematic, they will need to either get a maintenance crew to jack it up and temporarily lock the undercarriage or worse still hire a crane to shift it and it all takes time. In years gone by Trumpton would have dragged it off the runway but they'd probably get sued now.
All that equipment should be on-site at a major airport. The Beeb said the delay was "investigation" rather than the activities to actually clear it but yeah, believing what they write is a little niaive I guess. wink
I'm not sure any major single-runway airport has a crane sat around just for the once in a (insert large number of years here) occasion that an aircraft has a landing gear collapse which causes the runway to be blocked. Where do you draw the line? What if it's a big aircraft? Do we have 3 or 4 cranes sat around on site for years "just in case" ?

The AAIB will have needed time to get on site from Farnborough and time to gather what information and evidence they needed from the aircraft before it was moved.
Once their tasks were concluded, the airport will have needed to get the aircraft removed, remove any debris from the runway and assess and repair as necessary any damage to the runway surface.

That's why it takes a while.

48k

15,303 posts

164 months

Thursday 7th August
quotequote all
hidetheelephants said:
Interesting why one passenger was getting a Kingair to Belfast when Easyjet will get you there for a fraction of the price.
It was a positioning flight for the airline (Woodgate Aviation).

Funky Squirrel said:
I'm curious, when a runway is shut down for something like this, is the pilot/owner fined or do they have insurance for disruption events like this?
The aircraft will be insured and the insurance includes third party liability.

GliderRider

2,718 posts

97 months

Friday 8th August
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An undercarriage failing to retract is hardly an incident that needs the aeroplane on the ground ASAP. Why not divert to a minor airfield, e.g. Kemble, where very few will be inconvenienced?

Zad

12,862 posts

252 months

Friday 8th August
quotequote all
Fire and accident facilities? I imagine things could get dramatic very quickly with a failed undercarriage, especially if the pilot wasn't sufficiently skilled and/or experienced.
Aircraft's home base?
Engineering facilities to inspect/repair the aircraft?

Hill92

4,951 posts

206 months

Friday 8th August
quotequote all
GliderRider said:
An undercarriage failing to retract is hardly an incident that needs the aeroplane on the ground ASAP. Why not divert to a minor airfield, e.g. Kemble, where very few will be inconvenienced?
An undercarriage failure can result in significant harm to the aircraft and occupants upon landing.

Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting Service requirements are categorised based on aircraft length. A B200 Super King Air is 13-14m long, placing it in RFFS Cat 3.

Coventry is Cat A1 with Cat 1 only available Tues-Sat. This is basically Land Rovers with fire extinguishers.

Kemble is Cat A2.

So neither are equipped or trained to deal with aircraft of this size.

Birmingham, on the other hand, is Cat A9, able to handle almost everything short of an A380.






GliderRider

2,718 posts

97 months

Friday 8th August
quotequote all
Thanks Hill92. That makes sense.