ryan air taxi speeds?

[Dagger-D]

Ok, this might sound daft, but I really have to ask...

Why is it that the majority of Ryan air aircraft appear to taxi twice the speed of everybody else? Am I missing something here?

Just today I witnessed some high speed manouvering on the apron at Leeds.

That Old 737 did'nt look to comfortable coming off the taxi way at such speed, heck knows what the passengers must be thinking!
Certainly the Captain of the Dash 8 on the next stand was unimpressed.

So, Ryan air chaps, whats the deal?
Does it actually save enough time to make it worth the risk?

Thanks in anticipation.

[David H]

Yes, I agree. I came into STN on a Ryanair flight in February, and the guy was taxi-ing as if it were Brands Hatch. He also used the reverse thrust to slow down during taxi-ing and again on the actual apron just before turning to the stand. 50 mph on the taxi-way perhaps ?

What with the stories about flying over 250 kt under FL 100, and the hectic pace of turn-arounds in general, I am beginning to wonder whether we have an accident waiting to happen with some of these low-cost no-frills operations.....

[GearUp CheerUp]

I overheard a complaint on the RT at Gatwick a few weeks ago when a Ryanair aircraft started to taxi with an armfull of thrust. Apparantly the jet wash rocked another parked aircraft (125 seat size) quite badly and the crew pointed this out to the ground controller saying that they had 'taken off' down the taxiway.

We all want to get there on time but if it means basic airmanship going out of the window...

[Dagger-D]

Surely this sort of behavior is not condoned by the airline or it's training department.

Reference what I saw today, I now hear that the ryanair aircraft was reported for manouvering dangerously on the apron.

And I thought it was just me that thought it looked a bit dodgy!

[G-BPEC]

It all boils down to profit, and an aircraft sitting on the ground isn't doing anyone any good. If Ryanair had their way they would embark/disembark the passengers on the taxiway, but obviously this isn't allowed so they have to get to the terminal as quickly as possible. I agree that this sort of profit-driven behaviour is getting out of hand and is an accident waiting to happen, and as for using RT on the taxiways, that's just plain unsafe. How long before passengers are injured or even killed by this sort of behaviour?

Profit must be pushed to second priority, and safety must ALWAYS be first.

[Dark Skies]

You think Ryanair are quick off the mark!!

You should see the Aeropostale 737's at CDG every night they almost reach V1 on the taxiways.

CDG just the place to have a 737 up your arse at night!

Remember Safety First!!

[fireflybob]

Never understood the point of taxiing too fast.
A couple of comments:-

Taxi speed varies exponentially as your distance from the Chief Pilot's/Training Captain's office!

Judge the airmanship and ability of the pilot by the way he taxies to the holding point - it speaks volumes.

Reminds me of a certain Chief Pilot who was very well respected and always taxied very "sedately". He was flying with a new First Officer who asked "Why do you taxi so slowly?!!" The first time I saw him at a loss for words!

It's just a matter of time before this sort of activity ends in disaster. Aircraft were designed to be in the air and when on the ground are in one of their more dangerous states - my advice is "Take Care!"

------------------

[Irish Steve]

probably has a lot to do with the concept of 20 minute turn rounds. If the schedule has gone for a ball of chalk, which it does most days, the only way to try and get back on to time is to push things, both on the ground and in the air, to try and get back the lost time.

As to the advisability of constantly pushing old airframes to the limits, Hmmmmmmm is all I shall say on that one.

[Deadleg]

I thought the turn around began 'on chocks' & ended 'off chocks, not as you vacated the runway. Could it be that they are running to unrealistic block times? Just a thought, of course it does'nt excuse bad airmanship. By the way, I agree they do taxi too fast!

[The_Cowboy]

How fast are they going?

[Rogaine addict]

I certainly agree that it's a safety issue and the this corporate culture is more prevalant some places than others. There's an outfit in the U.S. (orange and green 737s) that does the same thing.

[3yappydogs]

All the ryan bashing seems a bit premature ...after all BAA STN apparently wrote to the Deputy Chief Pilot complaining about SLOW taxi speeds and runway occupancy times of ryanair aircraft..
Officially ...25kts straight line and 12 in the turn ...
ooops that should have been 20 kts

[This message has been edited by 3yappydogs (edited 13 April 2001).]

[Dagger-D]

Yappydogs, point taken.

I rather think the situation at STN is similar to the one where 90% of drivers slow down just before passing a known speed trap!

I'm not Ryanair bashing, I just wondered why many of their aircraft are seen (evidently not just be me)to taxi at speeds that appear above the norm.

How do you measure your taxi speeds acurately? Its a bit like Horizontal seperation from clouds, Sensible guess?

The aircraft I fly Has a G/S readout, but somehow I doubt its accuracy whilst on the ground. I feel I am better employed watching where I'm going as opposed to keeping the speed at 24.99 kts.

Common sense prevails.

[G-BPEC]

In my opinion, the problem seems largely confined to the Boeing 737-200s, never seen an 800 going unreasonably fast, have you?

BPEC

[Yogi-Bear]

Used to watch the Air Algerie freighters at Coventry, some years ago, doing the same thing. Braking hard, reverse thrust to vacate from a back-track, all in a great hurry. Couldn't undestand it because the brakes take 45 mins. to cool. Remember, one went in.....

[Herod]

Oh come on, Yogi! You can hardly blame that accident on taxying too fast.

[David H]

I am sure Yogi Bear is not blaming the Air Algerie crash on fast taxi-ing. What the point of this thread is, I guess, is that fast taxi-ing reveals a possible lack of judgment, poor airmanship, an excess importance placed on economics and schedule, rather than safety, etc. These features, experience shows us, reveal a general behavioural culture which could, just perhaps, lead to an accident if unchecked.

[Yogi-Bear]

Spot on DH, thank you. Symptomatic. The link was as clear as a bell at the time.

[LevelFive]

Here’s a simple solution to high taxi speed (http://www.moviesounds.com/redoct/slowdown.wav)