Originally Posted by jdkirkk
The ditch at Hanscom that killed some good people and destroyed a good airplane could have been fixed real easy and this accident would be an incident being discussed over a beer by those involved.
A length of concrete pipe in the ditch to let the water find a way downstream and dirt on top of the pipe planted in greenery would do the job.
It would be much less expensive than flying a load of Marines in a B747 to Iraq, for instance.
I'm not sure it's fair to blame the deaths on simply a "ditch." The "ditch" is actually part of the Shawsheen river, and if there had been a smooth bridge over it, there is another branch of the river shortly thereafter, and a wooded area with lots of trees to stop an airplane fast. The whole area is protected wetlands as well.
The river was likely rerouted into that straight line far away from the runway when the runway 11/29 was expanded decades ago, before environmental protections that exist today.
The towns of Lexington and Bedford (the Shawsheen River at that point actually forms the town line) would go absolutely nuts if there was an attempt to disrupt any of the wetlands, and it likely wouldn't be permitted under federal guidelines either. They (and Lincoln and Concord) were aghast when the other runway was moved slightly (on paper and paint only) to provide safety areas.
Given the politics of the area, it would be much easier to simply close the runway or the airport entirely than expand the runway areas or flatten wooded wetlands.