Footage has emerged of a passenger plane parked in Argentina going out of control during a storm and colliding with a staircase.
The incident occurred on Sunday when a severe storm and 100-mph winds hit Aeroparque Jorge Newbery airport in Buenos Aires. The footage then shows a ladder and other airport equipment hurtling across the tarmac.
Aerolineas Argentinas said in a statement: “Due to the severe storm that has mainly affected Aeroparque’s operation, 100 flights have been canceled so far and the same number of flights have experienced delays and rescheduling.”
The aircraft sustained damage and its next scheduled flight was canceled while the aircraft was grounded for repairs.
This is an example of a world-side hazard that travelers don’t think much about but for which ground staff are extensively trained. The rare, fiery situations in which an aircraft might fail in flight may further excite the imagination, but the runway is where incidents and human error most often occur.
runway violations
A study by U.S. transportation authorities found that runway incursions, which occur when an aircraft, vehicle or person erroneously lands on the runway, have increased over time (about 1,756 were reported at U.S. airports last year).
Turning Left For Less’ aviation expert Michele Robson thinks complex runway layouts can increase the risk. Incidents involving vehicles are “very rare in this country,” she says, “but they happen more frequently in other parts of the world.” Large airports like Chicago O’Hare are more difficult to navigate: Vehicles can unintentionally swerve into the path of a taxiing aircraft, or a pilot can find himself lost.
Long-haul pilot Charlie Page says he’s constantly on the lookout for such violations. “We have to be very aware of all the potential dangers,” he says. “We are absolutely focused and always trying to create a 3D picture of the area in our mind.”
In fact, an investigation by the Chicago Sun Times found that five airport staff members have been reprimanded for such violations since 2020. In one incident, a vehicle was driven into a “runway safety area” and a jet line belonging to Korean Airways remained there. overflowed.” A different employee was suspended for accidentally stepping onto the runway, causing the landing to be aborted.
All passengers and staff escaped unharmed from both incidents. However, Robson points out that unknown track layouts and generally poor visibility can lead to much more dangerous scenarios.
An accident that occurs as a result
Such incidents are now extremely rare, especially as a result of a horrific event. In 1977, as a KLM plane began its takeoff from Tenerife airport in thick fog, unbeknownst to the pilot, the Pam Am flight was still on the runway. 583 people died as a result of the planes colliding. This was the deadliest non-terrorism-related aviation disaster in history.
As a result of the accident, a number of new procedures were initiated to assist air traffic controllers and pilots. Emphasis was placed on the use of English as a collaborative working language, and standard phrases such as “hold position” were added for clarity. Cockpit procedures were also tightened; There was some speculation that the staff on the KLM flight would not have been able to challenge the respected pilot who took off without permission. Flight crews are now explicitly trained to appeal decisions regardless of seniority.
The procedure for reducing visibility, similar to that experienced in the Tenerife disaster, has also been developed. “Things like pilots getting lost or other vehicles on the runway are now detected by radar surface motion devices,” says Robson. “Even if visibility is bad, a controller can see everything on a screen that resembles a radar screen. So if someone comes in the wrong direction, they don’t need to constantly look out the window, it’s on that screen.”
Another recent incident occurred in Stansted. The Ryanair plane taking off from Luxembourg collided with a land vehicle while heading towards the gate. In the footage, the ambulift, a mobility support device used by disabled passengers, is seen approaching the plane, then stopping and trying to turn back.
It is clear that the action was misjudged. The upper part of the vehicle is clipped by the aircraft’s wing, apparently damaging the aircraft.
Due to the relatively slow speeds of the vehicles involved, attacks such as that at Stansted do not pose a serious threat. Passengers still need to wear their seat belts, and the fuselage of the plane is much more durable than a vehicle on the ground. Stranger, more social media-friendly events, like the much-shared video of a JetBlue plane tipping backwards, can feel like alarming incidents of danger on the ground. In fact, the risk to passengers is very low.
track trips
But the runway can become a more dangerous place during incidents such as the one seen at Leeds Bradford airport last month when a Tui plane “slid off the runway” in heavy rain. The passengers again managed to exit the plane unharmed.
Excursions (an aircraft deviating from or leaving the runway surface) are a particular threat. The International Air Transport Association declared them the “most common type of accident” in its 2022 Safety Report. Two years ago, the trips were blamed for 24 deaths, 77 serious injuries and six cases of serious damage to aircraft. It is obvious that the risk to life is quite frightening, but airlines are also particularly cautious about their costs. Swiss consulting firm Safe-Runway GmbH estimates the direct costs of track touring events to be around $4 billion per year.
Passengers and the operator were lucky that the Tui plane did not break up during the trip. Many such incidents have resulted in serious injuries and often extensive damage to the aircraft. In 2000, Southwest Airlines Flight 1455 overshot the runway at Burbank airport due to wet weather. It crashed into a surrounding wall and eventually came to a stop in front of a gas station. Luckily everyone survived, but the flight was cancelled. This was the first major accident in the airline’s history.
Other trips proved more deadly. A Pegasus Airlines plane overran the runway and broke apart while landing at Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen International Airport in bad weather conditions in 2020. Three passengers were killed.
airport mitigation
Yet aviation accidents overall remain rare and decreasing. Airports use eye-catchingly named tools like Skidometers to measure runway friction and monitor water levels; This means that weather conditions are closely monitored. Although it may seem dramatic most of the time, pilots can react to any perceived danger on the ground right up to the moment of landing.
“If there is another aircraft or vehicle on the runway, the pilot will abort the landing,” says Robson. “The same thing could happen if the track surface is deemed unsafe. A pilot may even touch the wheels before applying full power and climbing to a certain altitude because he is unhappy with the conditions. “Passengers may be quite alarmed by the sudden gear change, but this is actually a safety precaution.”
You may want to start your vacation as soon as the tires touch the tarmac, but safety concerns continue until the plane comes to a complete stop. If the Stansted incident reveals anything, it’s that airlines really mean it when they advise you to keep your seatbelt fastened.