Originally Posted by
Pilot DAR
We had a DC-8-63 do exactly this decades back. The ground was too soft underneath the pavement, same result. It had been marshalled across an area of apron not approved for that weight. It was three days getting it dug out though....
I nearly set a DC-8-73 engine nacelle on the pavement years ago, during a line check no less. I was the FE and there was the lengthy James A. Michener preflight (in homage to an author of the last century who wrote prose by the pound) where you flipped every switch and tested every valve light. Somehow, I left the crossfeed valve open while doing the fuel panel preflight and by the time I went outside to walk around, the number 2 engine nacelle was within an inch of the ramp. I quickly abbreviated the remaining outside preflight and ran back inside, turned on some pumps and set up a crossfeed to the right tanks while the check airman chatted with the pilots. Whew.
