Originally Posted by
Icarus2001
When a train stops, it stops, it is in a safe state. Similar to a car or bus or truck. Not so an aircraft.
Not always. When an unattended (or a big-enough manned) freighter loses brake pipe pressure, you are entirely reliant on how tight the seals are in the braking system to prevent it buggering off down the hill and emulating BHP's runaway. Yes, it'll
stop when it has a problem, but unless it has spring-applied park brakes, there's no guarantee it'll
stay stopped if the gradient is sufficient....