Originally Posted by CLEE
I would say that you make everying flat as far as you can given the physical restraints imposed upon you. I appreciate that other airports have similar hazards too, and rather than that serve as an excuse for this accident, why can't this accident serve as a pointer to all those hazardous situations? If that means fixing Leeds-Bradford or the Bath Road, so be it (I'd like to see BAA's risk assesment for that).
Or even LTN and the A505... The A505 runs in a cut between the end of Rwy 26 and the Vauxhall parking lot east of Vauxhall Road. And just a bit further is Luton Parkway on the Midland Mainline, another major railway connection.
In the case of MAD, it would take a LOT of landfill/earthworks to eliminate the drop, but is probably doable, in the case of LTN, a cut and cover tunnel could do (but I believe there's some significant roadworks already to improve access to LTN from the A505, trying to eliminate the roundabout for airport traffic).
But all the pontificating in the world (granted, I'm guilty of it) about what could/should be done won't mean a jot until we know why the jet went down.
S.