PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - SOUTHEND - 3 The new beginning
View Single Post
Old 18th Nov 2012, 08:36
  #1375 (permalink)  
asdf1234
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 546
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
It is a condition of operating at London Southend Airport that all aircraft operators accept that St. Laurence Church and its graveyard are permanent obstacles within the runway instrument strip, and that they take account of them to the extent necessary to ensure a safe operation.

The Church roof is at 78ft AMSL at 94m from runway centreline, and its spire at 114ft AMSL, 105m from the runway centreline at approximately 200m north-east of runway 06 threshold. The obstacle is lit (by an adjacent pole) with a single red obstruction light.

A frangible security fence is placed around Church graveyard up to 9ft AGL(56ft amsl), and at closest, 49m from Runway centreline.

The risks posed by the Church are subject to an annual review by the Aerodrome License Holder and are a standing Agenda item to the Airport User Group meeting.
Seems to me the danger is acknowledged by the owners of SEN and that operators into/out of SEN have to take account of the danger posed by the church in their operational planning.

With a railway at one end of the runway (protected by a berm), a dual carriageway at the other end and a church listed as an obstacle within the runway instrument strip I'm sure all users of SEN have appropriate briefings for their flight crew to take account of, and mitigate the inherent dangers. Add to this the fact that the runway is officially condsidered "narrow" for operators of Code C aircraft (including the A319's flown by Easyjet) and you definitely have a challenging airport to operate from.

Last edited by asdf1234; 18th Nov 2012 at 08:40. Reason: Add comments about width
asdf1234 is offline