Originally Posted by
Richard Dangle
Having looked at the images, and the location on Google Maps, I am a little surprised that this sort of activity by this sort of aircraft is permitted at this site, when no traffic lights appear to be im place controlling the traffic..or have I missed them????? I operated for many years on an aircraft of similar vintage, on a runaway with a public road crossing at one end, and there were traffic lights controlling traffic for all arrivals and departures. This beast came within a gnat's c**k of creating some much larger headlines. I would suggest that someone, somewhere has dropped the ball a little from a risk assessment perspective. No doubt that will now be rectified - both here and elsewhere - albeit I suggest the cost and inconvenience of implementing traffic control measures might be undersireable given a simpler, more obvious and cost-free solution.
Whilst it is usual to have traffic control if a road passes very close to the end of a runway, normally it is only used for an unusually large aircraft taking off or landing. I live in a city that has a airport with just such a setup.
I don't think I have ever known it to be used for something that has no intention of leaving the ground but might smash through the perimeter fence! To be honest, if that is necessary then it is difficult to see that the operation was ever a good idea.
Does the ploughed field normally have crops? If so, would they have operated had there been standing corn? If so and the same had happened it would presumably have caught fire!