Pac Blue on the move!

[1279shp]

Heard on a "kids" radio station today that it was a 747! Media on ball again!

Question: Did the QF departing seconds before the 738 moved, give the 738 a kick in the cooster?

YouTube - Boeing 737-800 gate 22 mishap. WLG (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_ivBUd9yuU)

Here's TV news story today ...

Dramatic footage has just emerged of a Boeing 737 being blown away from an airbridge at Wellington airport while passengers were disembarking.

The incident happened in June but the images have just surfaced on YouTube, showing ground staff scrambling for safety as the 40 tonne aircraft is pushed away from the airbridge - leaving a large gap between the aircraft and the airbridge with a three-metre drop to the ground.
No one was hurt but industry experts are hoping airlines will learn from the incident.

"Clearly a gust of wind has caught the tail... and it would have been fairly scary for the people on the ground as you saw from the video," Irene King from the Aviation Industry Association says.

The Pacific Blue plane had just landed in Wellington on a flight from Auckland with 180 people on board on June 17.

MetService weather ambassador Bob McDavitt says it was a southerly.
"It wasn't really a gale force southerly, but it was pretty strong. And peak gusts we measured were about 78 kilometres per hour," he says.

The drama took place as passengers started to disembark and King says the problem is widely known globally with 737-800s because "they're very light at the back when passengers come forward".

Pacific Blue says the plane was braked following usual procedure.
The company said in a statement that following their investigation all 737-800s must now be braked and have the main, rear wheels chocked or secured when winds exceed about 60 kilometres an hour.

The Civil Aviation Authority is no longer investigating the incident and says it is happy with Pacific Blue's report.

The Hamilton pilot who put the dramatic pictures on the picture-sharing website would not disclose where he got the security camera footage and did not want to talk to the media. :hmm:

[Tarq57]

and King says the problem is widely known globally with 737-800s because "they're very light at the back when passengers come forward"
Something wrong with the lady's presentation of physics, there, methinks.
Forward c/g would surely increase the nose wheels' ability to resist skidding with a side load.
Nothing to do with the long fuselage and big sticky-up thing at the back?

[Cloud Cutter]

The Irene Machine strikes again! Has she never sat at the back of an aircraft? I've never seen anyone move forward from the back until the front is empty (although plenty seem to think they're going to). :eek:

Also, Pacific Blue says the plane was braked following usual procedure. Surely if usual procedure was followed, the plane would not be braked, only chocked, which it clearly was.

People need to be a little more careful with the wording of media statements.

[1279shp]

The Civil Aviation Authority is satisfied with Pacific Blue's response to an incident, in which one of its planes swung away from a boarding gate at Wellington Airport as passengers disembarked.

Pacific Blue notified the CAA shortly after the incident in June, and had conducted its own investigation as required, said CAA spokesman Bill Sommer.

"We're satisfied that they've determined what the cause was, and they've put procedures in place to ensure that it won't happen again."

The CAA will not investigate further, Mr Sommer said.

A wind gust caught the aircraft's tail as passengers got off, swinging the Boeing 737-800 about 1m.

When operating in wind stronger than 30 knots, Pacific Blue will put chocks under the main wheels and apply a parking break as a backup, he said.

"In New Zealand occurrences, this is the first occasion we've had this reported to us."

NZPA

[SuperDooperEngineer]

I am a LAME Rated on the B737NG and what was said on the news was said by the lady on the news was incorrect about the B737-800 aircraft light in the tail end, thats why the plane moved. I totally disagree with that woman. I

The only way the plane would of move is the "PARK BRAKE" was "OFF", a common practise to do once the aircraft is chocked to stop the disks sticking together and aid cooling. But on a windy day normally you would leave the "PARK BRAKE SET to ON" as well as the plane chocked. Also the tow bar was attached to the plane, and the Nose Wheel Steering Bypass pin installed there is No Hydraulic Power to the Nose wheel steering so you can freely move the Nose Wheels easily from the tow bar attached. So with all these factors brakes released, no wonder the plane moved.

I think the Pilot would have had half a clue to leave the brakes parked on a windy, and the gnd handlers to chock all wheels. I guess thats wat happens when u are on a tight schedule. People slip up and there are no engineers are there to help as the Airline chooses not to have them there participating in th turnaround. " Low cost Carriers"

[Kranky]

Looks like this one was too heavy down the back. The nose gear in the clip was very extended. Boeing say they won't tip, but I've seen one very nearly lift the nose wheel clear of the ground when there was too much weight down the back. It was an unload on a bridge. The rear hold was full and pax were coming off front only, so all the weight was on the rear. Not much cargo in the forward hold either.
This was an unload and I'd say this is what happened on this one. The wind would've just helped the process.

[Yusef Danet]

Yeah they tip.

[tasdevil.f27]

Did see a photo of 737-8 on its bum a few weeks ago, cant remember where it was, either Asia or Europe.