View Full Version : A Skytrans King Air crash lands in Cairns
Cool banana
13th Oct 2006, 06:41
The Cairns main runway 15 is currently closed due to an Skytrans KingAir nose wheel collapsing on landing.
Torres
13th Oct 2006, 07:22
Hardly "a crash"!
I think "incident" would be a more appropriate term - and minor at that!!! :ugh:
Defenestrator
13th Oct 2006, 07:41
Was the aircraft damaged? If so it's an accident. But I agree, hardly a crash. Hope it all works out well for the guy/s involved.
Arm out the window
13th Oct 2006, 07:41
Must be a Cairns Post journo!:)
Mr.Buzzy
13th Oct 2006, 08:14
And still folks insist on no alternate with single runway destinations!
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
GW_04
13th Oct 2006, 08:33
To the pilot chapy...well done.
Not a nice situation to be in.
Its always nice when incidents have an everybody's OK outcome. :D
G
Mr Buzzy.
But Q can autoland when things go sour.
Can't they?
I think!
I wonder.
Cant they?
"She'll be right mate we are the Q and we've got GoD on our side. (haven't we?)."
M
Hey Wooms, Journo type hype like that should be edited before it gets silly.
Well done to the pilots.
Now as for alternates.......Mareeba and Atherton are close by......:} :} :}
J:ok:
Arm out the window
13th Oct 2006, 09:42
Let me know if any 747s are diverting to Atherton, I'll take the esky out and get set up in a good viewing position (not too close).:ooh:
Hey Arm out the Window,
Can you get them to hold for half a day, so I can join you:} :E
Good friend of mine would even move the R44 outa the hangar to accomodate them:p
J:ok:
Veruka Salt
13th Oct 2006, 11:41
Yeah, but you can't autoland on a closed runway Maui . . . :confused: :confused:
They'll get outa the way as you come over the fence:}
J:ok:
Capt Fathom
13th Oct 2006, 12:04
And still folks insist on no alternate with single runway destinations!
What a crock!
Even a Jumbo can land in 4500'.
So given the worst case of a disabled aircraft in the middle of the 10,000' runway, and a Jumbo, having no fuel to hold or divert, still has somewhere to land. (There is also a parallel taxiway at most airports).
You cannot carry fuel for every possible scenario! :ugh:
the wizard of auz
13th Oct 2006, 12:10
AAAH, just slip up to Coen. you can eat Mangoes off the airport managers trees while you wait around. :}
The Riddler
13th Oct 2006, 13:06
You cannot carry fuel for every possible scenario!
Standard fuel policy of many major airlines includes ALT fuel on every flight. This is for many reasons including the closure of a single runway airfield.
It has always puzzled me as to why QF doesn't carry this fuel.
Once a QF flight passes its DPA (assuming a happy QF Capt who carries flight plan fuel only) then he has no fuel available for diversion.
Imagine the pucker factor when he is told by the tower to go around due to prior landing aircraft being disabled on the only available runway...
It has always puzzled me as to why QF doesn't carry this fuel.
Once a QF flight passes its DPA (assuming a happy QF Capt who carries flight plan fuel only) then he has no fuel available for diversion.
Imagine the pucker factor when he is told by the tower to go around due to prior landing aircraft being disabled on the only available runway...
Thankfully many QF captains use their common sense when it comes to single runway destinations and carry diversion fuel anyway, regardless of the company's official policy.
greenslopes
13th Oct 2006, 13:54
Geez Capt Fathom with logic like that your my hero!?
Single runway Destination=alternate, no question!
You might be a hero to the Acountant but you would be a fool to the Judge at the inquest.
Blip
The operative word in your post is "many". If it were "all" one could be reasonably comfortable. Sadly "all" is not appropriate, and one cannot.
As demonstrated twice in the last 18 months.
M
jack red
14th Oct 2006, 00:02
What airport would you have nominated as your alternate for CNS ?
Ron & Edna Johns
14th Oct 2006, 00:20
I can assure you that me and most other QF skippers will be holding YBTL when landing in YBCS, even when it's CAVOK. This is exactly the scenario you do NOT want to be facing on Min Op. That "2nd" runway in Cairns is a tad small, even for the trusty 737...
As for the minority who don't carry necessary diversion fuel, well, I just shake my head and roll my eyes. I can just see the FSO one day: "Due to a recent incident, new policy is blah blah blah......"
Capt Wally
14th Oct 2006, 00:31
...............if there was no other "out" for any airliner with hunderds of pax aboard awaiting to land never lone the red rat with a disabled A/C stuck in the middle of a single airport rwy then am sure with no options left a bull dozer would soon have the problem fixed !!:ok: .............the cost of a happy dozer driver (would love to be in his shoes for those few minutes) & a single kingair for Eg would be peanuts compared to the ensuing litigation of claims that would arise if some bunny Capt tried to land anywhere else other than a proper paved rwy suitable for several hundred tonnes of metal !
...................see the very first "Airport" movie for an excellent Eg. of ridding a stuck plane from a rwy flight strip!..........oh btw..............Dean Martin starred in that movie along with George Peppard(chk spelling)..................ahhhh real men..............shaken & not stired please !:_)
Capt Wally:-)
p.s..............those that have wrinkles will remember the 747 that tried to land on EN's rwy 35 once upon a time but went around (tnk GOD !)............they figured out latter that he could have made it in with the available rwy etc. but the media would have been peeved 'cause they would have missed the whole event by the time they found out & that's 'cause the hapless Capt wasn't waiting for an audience he was setting up to actually land !!!!
Ron & Edna Johns
14th Oct 2006, 01:18
And exactly how long do you think it's going to take to bulldoze something like a King Air off a runway? Realistically? I reckon a minimum half-an-hour. Absolute minimum, assuming they swing into action immediately and have their s#!t in a pile. And more likely there will be complications, dragging the whole process out.
Well, I ain't gonna be hanging around watching the fun and games!
And just how long do you think it would take for the bulldozer to clear the runway?
Given that it would be the airport manager ordering the bulldozer driver to take the action, he would probably want to obtain some legal advice first!
What if the aircraft to be moved is heavy (e.g. a 737)? How many bulldozers would you need? Where would they come from? The drivers would probably insist the fuel be drained from the aircraft tanks first - potentially very time consuming if the aircraft is lying at some angle incompatible with the drain points.
And don't forget that the bulldozer drivers would need to be issued with temporary ASICs.
Capt Wally
14th Oct 2006, 01:38
.....yes good point APMR about the issuing of a temp asic card for the bulldover drivers, that alone would take longer than any holding fuel a capt had at his/her disposal:-)......trust me if there where a 747 for Eg overhead the field about to be turned into a 'glider' & no other way around this then am sure that mankind would think of a way to remove a stuck A/C from a runway !:-):)
capt Wally
p.s.............also good point about the fuel maybe being removed first..........Jet A1 however has a flashpoint of around -40 deg's C so unless yr really having a bad hair day then it's power to the CAT D9 :)
...............if there was no other "out" for any airliner with hunderds of pax aboard awaiting to land never lone the red rat with a disabled A/C stuck in the middle of a single airport rwy then am sure with no options left a bull dozer would soon have the problem fixed !!:ok: .............the cost of a happy dozer driver (would love to be in his shoes for those few minutes) & a single kingair for Eg would be peanuts compared to the ensuing litigation of claims that would arise if some bunny Capt tried to land anywhere else other than a proper paved rwy suitable for several hundred tonnes of metal !
...................see the very first "Airport" movie for an excellent Eg. of ridding a stuck plane from a rwy flight strip!..........oh btw..............Dean Martin starred in that movie along with George Peppard(chk spelling)..................ahhhh real men..............shaken & not stired please !:_)
Capt Wally:-)
George Peppard? Don't think so.
Are you thinking of Barry Nelson who played Capt Anson Harris?
topdrop
14th Oct 2006, 07:50
The closure of Cairns airport became a planned event. The pilot advised ATC of his undercarriage problem. Given his fuel remaining, the pilot agreed to hold until the majors had their jets on the ground. All inbound aircraft were advised of planned closure time - with ample time to proceed elsewhere. The anticipated closure was "at least 30 mins". The actual time was 30 minutes. Runway 12 was reopened inside this time.
One aircraft held for about 10 mins, about 4 or 5 lighties diverted to Mareeba or Cooktown
Seems like a pretty well managed situation to me. :ok:
Bleve
14th Oct 2006, 23:15
Yep this incident was well managed.
But of course what everyone is speculating about is how would it have panned out if it was an unplanned event? ie the undercarriage collapsed on landing without warning.
Woomera
15th Oct 2006, 00:51
Bleve. The topic of this thread is: A Skytrans King Air crash lands in Cairns..
Whlist the thread title may be fallacious - I don't agree a "crash" occurred - this thread is dedicated solely to that particular well planned and professionally executed incident.
If you wish to debate/discuss the probabilities and operational alternatives of a hypothetical event, start a new threat in D&G GA and Questions.
king oath
15th Oct 2006, 07:20
Blip has it correctly. Those Captains with half a brain carry an alternate. No big deal in capital cities with another airport close by.
For more remote airports such as Ayers Rock, Karratha, Broome etc the fuel cost differential means you are tankering anyway, so you have a shizenload of fuel over destination.
Just because the employer has a fuel policy doesn't mean the Captain doesn't use his/her head. After all the law requires you to carry "sufficient" fuel for the operation. Thats the Captains responsibility.
Dogimed
15th Oct 2006, 23:04
So going back to thread topic... hows the aircraft? Any injuries? Damage?
Bleve
15th Oct 2006, 23:34
Geez,
I count 19 previous posts on this thread that don't refer directly to the thread topic and instead speculate about what fuel the heavies carry and what would happen if .... etc etc. No admonishment from Woomera about thread drift there. Yet all I do is point out what the majority of previous posters are talking about and Woomera ups me for the rent.
Why me and not any of the other 19 posts? :confused: