MANCHESTER - 8

[321go]

Thanks Jack. No more words required then. Hopefully lessons learned for all concerned.

[nigel osborne]

Fair point Mickyman..The only mistake they made with the 2nd runway was that it was built too close to the 1st so cannot do mixed mode.

The UK government said last week that they have downgraded passenger forecasts for air travel down from 445 million to 330 million due to the recession,and no new runways will be needed before 2050 ?

So looks like Birminghams runway extension starting next year may be the largest project for a while on that front then.

With APD rises I think the smaller airports will fade.. Durham I think has just been put up for sale, and LPL will probably have to settle for just low cost.

It will be MAN,BHX,LGW that will be the growth airports, purely because they are closest to large conurbations.

Nigel

[Suzeman]

The only mistake they made with the 2nd runway was that it was built too close to the 1st so cannot do mixed mode.

Perhaps Nigel, you would like to suggest where the alignment of any second runway SHOULD have gone then, given the topography and buildings around the airport, the cost and the likelihood of it getting planning permission?

Suzeman

[Topspotter]

I see MAN was a complete laughing stock yet again today, ten minutes of sleet and they closed for two hours ....pathetic response, get a grip FFS

[Curious Pax]

10 mins sleet? Rubbish. Whilst 2 hrs SNOCLO may have been excessive, 2 miles west of the airport was at least an hour of heavy snow, though a lot didn't stick.

[JackRalston]

Topspotter

I have to agree with Curious Pax. I live about 5m NE of MAN and we had very heavy snow for a prolonged period of time early morning. Then after it reopened at about midday, we had another period of very heavy snow.

[jackieofalltrades]

The only mistake they made with the 2nd runway was that it was built too close to the 1st so cannot do mixed mode.

I would say the biggest mistake with the 2nd runway was not building a taxiway all the way to the far western end; thus requiring any aircraft landing on 23L, or departing on 05R to back track on the runway.

[MANTFS]

De Icing

Where as closing the airport for snow clearance may just about be understandable, 3 hour delays as experienced yesterday waiting for the de-icing rig is surely avoidable?
Whatever the excuses I do not think the airport from a customer perspective covered itself in glory yesterday.

[ManofMan]

Just waiting for all the Armchair airport tycoons to come on now and say that Manchester is a shambles as it does not have enough people trained in catching run away dogs !!

[delta154]

Just waiting for all the Armchair airport tycoons to come on now and say that Manchester is a shambles as it does not have enough people trained in catching run away dogs !!

And I'm waiting for all the MAN-fans to come on and defend the fact it took 30-40 minutes to catch a dog and caused an aircraft to divert, saying its 'totally acceptable' and 'it takes time to clear dogs of the runway'

New strap line: MAN, the airport that can do no wrong.......

[ManofMan]

Let me guess Delta154, you would have just let aircraft land and put hundreds of lives in danger ??

How on earth can anyone lay blame at the feet of MAG for a stray dog ???

I know Manchester has it's problems, but blaming it for this is scary.

[delta154]

Let me guess Delta154, you would have just let aircraft land and put hundreds of lives in danger ??

Erm, no. Not once was I suggesting that.

I'm more concerned that it seems no-one was adequately trained to handle this situation in a quick and speedy manner. I'm pretty damn sure that this isn't the first time this hasn't happened at an airport......

How on earth can anyone lay blame at the feet of MAG for a stray dog ???

I'm not blaming MAN for the stray dog, it could happen anywhere, I'm blaming MAN/ground staff/whoever for what seems the lack of training for this type of event and causing an aircraft to divert and 4 others to do several laps of the MAN holds.

[Ian Brooks]

Try catching a runaway dog that has no intensions of being caught as it is game to them
especially a whippet, took 4 of us 10 mins to catch a small terrier on the beach this summer with the help my sheep dog as well who finally rounded him up in true form

Very funny now but as worn out at time


Ian B

[delta154]

Try catching a runaway dog that has no intensions of being caught as it is game to them especially a whippet, took 4 of us 10 mins to catch a small terrier

Ok, so this question has to be asked.

In an area where Deer, foxes, (flamingoes) and possibly horses, cats and dogs (you never know) could all be realistic 'intruders' or 'escapees', rather than creating a Benny Hill scene with 10 or so guys chasing the animal up and down a runway, is it not time a couple of airfield ops guys were trained in dart guns.

If something poses such a danger, plus putting a distressed animal at even more distress by chasing it, surely this is a sensible option?

[RoyHudd]

You cannot win Delta. MAN is defended against ANY criticism by folk who don't actually take-off and land aircraft there. They are blind and resistant to reason, ignoring the fact that there is a high level of criticism through official channels from pilots. The place is a very second-rate airport with a management who hide behind H & S, costing the airlines much time and money. No future in suggesting improvements on these pages.

[Ian Brooks]

Not standing up for airport but just stating the obvious, hat I would like to know is where did the dog come from?

Ian B

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

And I'm sure Mr. Hudd wouldn't be complaining at all if his A330 engine ingested a stray dog on departure? And his airline wouldn't pursue legal redress if that were to happen? If you want a hazard-free operation, identified hazards must be removed. Inconvenient for everyone, but the alternative is much worse.

How irresponsible of MAN to declare a runway with a known hazard unavailable for use until the problem was rectified. Nobody should be allowed to defend this!

[delta154]

How irresponsible of MAN to declare a runway with a known hazard unavailable for use until the problem was rectified. Nobody should be allowed to defend this!

I would like to point out I am not questioning the judgement of closing the runway, its obvious why it was closed, I am more concerned why it took so bloody long to catch the thing.

I must admit that whilst I do like MAN airport, I agree with Mr Hudd that there seems to be this tedious chorus of supporters willing to defend every single action of MAN, no matter how trivial/serious and just down right stupid the event was. There only seems to be a few people bemused and questioning why a large international airport was closed for such a long time, by a dog!

If this had happened at LHR there would have been chaos and no end of media reports. But nope, MAN is fine and looks squeky clean in light of 2 prolonged closures in 2 days.

[750XL]

What more do you want airfield ops to do when there is a stray whippet on the runway? Whip out the bazooka from the back of the 4x4 and blow the thing to bits?

Or of course, we could just open the runway and allow a nice shiney jet to ingest the dog causing, so you can then blame the airport for allowing the aircraft to land with a known hazard on the runway, and also probably moan about the amount of time it took to clean the runway afterwards?

We don't live in a perfect world with unlimited resources and money. **** happens and it's one of those unfortunate events that takes time to deal with, learn to live with it

I am more concerned why it took so bloody long to catch the thing.

How would you have caught it then? I assume you have experience in chasing Whippets across acres of runway and dealing with them within 10 minutes to prevent disruption.

I look forward to hearing your response

[delta154]

How would you have caught it then? I assume you have experience in chasing Whippets across acres of runway and dealing with them within 10 minutes to prevent disruption.

Well, Id rather not say on here as Id have all the animal lovers down my neck and I just can't be bothered with the aggro on a saturday evening when Im chilling with a cider. Cest la vie.