Originally Posted by
747-436
As others have said a complete non event, no one would have heard about it if it wasn't for a couple of SLF on it!!
Feel sorry for the Pilots, will be in for a ribbing from their colleagues, hope BA don't do anything to them!
Saw on Generally Mediocre Television (GMTV) this morning the reporter saying that the aircraft was towed so it could make its way back to runway! Usual reporting where the whole airport is the runway
Well, I disagree, this is NOT a non-event (if you'll pardon the double negative)
Translating the LDA into numbers I'm more familiar with I make it 2524 metres. There are runways with LDAs shorter than this in the UK regularly used by B747 arrivals. If 30 at MIA is CAT I or visual, I don't suppose it benefits from green centreline lighting on the exits, so presumably has blue edge lighting.
A trawl through the MIA NOTAMs for today suggests plenty of construction work in the area of the Terminal buildings (lots of cranes etc) but no reference to work out on the Manoeuvrig Area.
There seem to have been 2 possible scenarios:
a) the aircraft failed to come to a halt within the LDA and finished up in the departure Stopway.
b) the aircraft slowed sufficiently to make the turnoff onto Quebec but for some reason the available ground lighting failed to give sufficient cues to the crew as to the appropriate turn to take, so they taxi'd into the Stopway.
I'd be disappointed if the NTSB didn't carry out some sort of investigation, to prevent a recurrence.
I'd say that in this instance, the quote about being towed back to the runway IS accurate - the Stopway ain't part of the landing runway!
You're probably right about it not coming to the attention of the news media if HE hadn't been on board.
TheOddOne