PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - BA plane lands at Accra with runway blocked?
Old 17th Feb 2012, 20:48
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11K-AVML
 
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There is only a certain amount of "what if?" you can reasonably do: for example, 09R at LHR has a dual carriageway and a petrol station 4-500m from the far end... This has not, to my knowledge, stopped anyone taking off or landing.
To be fair that petrol station is (slightly) off set from the edge of the would-be asphalt if the runway were to be extended that far.

In some states, risk maps are produced around runways to indicate where the risk of a collision is above an acceptable level (methodology and limit as described by the relevant safety body/ies) and thereby where permanent structures cannot be located.
I suspect the petrol station FullWings is referring to is just outside of this risk area.

I would suggest that whilst the risk of a collision would be higher when there is an aircraft parked within that risk boundary (i.e. sat on the centre-line somewhere down the runway), the boundaries are there to protect third parties from danger, not the aircraft that is arriving/departing. So as long as that jet is unoccupied, it's probably* not an issue in this context. I doubt they have risk maps in Accra anyhows.

*I say probably because I'm neither an expert nor a pilot (sic).
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