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Cyrano
28th Feb 2002, 13:24
Air Transport Intelligence (www.rati.com) reports:

Air France A320 tried to take off from Lisbon taxiway. .David Morrow, London (28Feb02, 03:21 GMT, 323 words)

. .Details have emerged of an incident at Lisbon International Airport earlier this month in which an air traffic controller ordered an Air France Airbus A320 to abort its take-off roll at high speed after realising that it was departing on a taxiway.

The Airbus A320, operating flight AF1205, was bound for Paris Charles de Gaulle with 65 passengers on board and had been given departure clearance from Lisbon’s runway 03.

Runway 03, the main strip at the airport, converges and intersects with the shorter secondary runway 35. Running parallel to 03 along its entire length - and also intersecting the shorter runway - is the main taxiway U1. Lisbon’s terminal buildings lie to the east of the runway complex.

Visibility was good and the runway was dry at the time, shortly before 11:15. Instead of turning onto the runway, however, the aircraft, registered F-GFKU, lined up on the U1 taxiway and commenced its take-off run.

An air traffic controller realised what was happening and alerted the aircraft’s crew which aborted the take-off after travelling some 800m (2,600ft) along the taxiway.

Portugal’s GPIA investigation authority is probing the incident. A spokeswoman for Air France, while not prepared to comment on progress with the investigation, says that indications were that there was “construction work” on the short taxiway N, one of two which connects the far southern end of the U1 taxiway to runway 03.

An internal Air France document reporting the 7 February incident also refers to “work and red barriers” present on taxiway N - although it does not comment further on the significance of this observation.

Following the aborted take-off the aircraft’s brakes were cooled and the crew prepared the twin-jet for take-off a second time, eventually departing normally. The incident came just a few days after a China Airlines Airbus A340 took off on a taxiway at Anchorage International Airport, Alaska; US authorities are still studying the cause of that incident.

. .Source: Air Transport Intelligence news

aloneincommand
28th Feb 2002, 18:57
Does it mean that the AF guys can apply for the vacancies left by the CAL Check pilot and his Anchorage crew and viceversa? or is it a whole new plan from Airbus to re-certify their airplanes as STOL?. .What ever it is, something very wrong is happening inside the cockpits and must be fixed SASPO. :)

fruitbat
28th Feb 2002, 19:03
They probably weren't taking off at all. They were just having some fun free wheeling down the taxi way that has a HUGE dip in it! 40 knots no probs!

gofer
28th Feb 2002, 19:18
Nah, its a major industry plot to convert all parallel taxiways to take-off strips and declare runways to landing strips. That gets a 30 to 50% gain in runways without a cent in investment.

If a few brave pilots show the world the way - the masses will follow.

'Airport expansion on the cheap' is the the secret code name of the project - its actually financed by the discount airlines to get the tarif's down at the 1st class airports, where people really want to go. Rumour has it that it is privately financed by Easy, Ryan & Southwest.

[ 28 February 2002: Message edited by: gofer ]</p>

IntheNavy
1st Mar 2002, 03:26
In AF don´t know the JAR´s?. .Somewhere says something about familiarization, but..sorry perhaps they may understood that´s related to the "Bacalho".

DontSink
1st Mar 2002, 03:40
Inthenavy,

You mean Bacalhao, not bacalho... <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

Algy
1st Mar 2002, 16:59
Anyone have opinions on the wisdom of the controller intervening and not just letting them get on with it. Lesser of two evils in the circumstances?

Not making judgements after the event, just a discussion point.

Herod
1st Mar 2002, 17:18
First thought is that the controller was right. Not having plates to hand, I don't know the length of the taxiway concerned, but there may have been doubt as to performance. There is also the matter of obstacle clearance after departure, infringement of other runway departures etc. Apart from trying to prevent an accident, there is also the matter of the licence in the subsequent accident inquiry. "So, Mr. Controller, you say you saw the aircraft taking off on the taxiway? Did you not do something to prevent it?" Yes, I'm also aware of the potential overrun case, but the controller didn't have a lot of time to think. Full marks in my book at the moment.

Juan_Moment
1st Mar 2002, 20:11
One would have thought that the fantastic aeroplane that is the A320, as it can do so much else for the crew, would have stopped them from being able to set power on anything other than the runway. (I don't know- most've got GPS, and there's the loc to fix off. Does everything b@st@rd else for you).

Wonderbus my @rse

Pontius' Pilot
1st Mar 2002, 20:36
JM

yaaaaaaaaaawn........

what has this got to do with Airbus!!!

IntheNavy
1st Mar 2002, 23:13
That is BACALHAO sorry about that(obrigado?). . But anyway. Is not true that the PIC earns money among other things because IS THE PILOT IN COMMAND AND ARE PAID BECAUSE HE DECIDES (WRONG OR NOT)AND TAKES THE DECISIONS?. . Fortunately someone (in this case the controler)advise them of the matter.But in any case was a mistake and the responsability is for the COMMANDER.. .Many people try to confuse everyone in this industry, and want (saying the same wrong sentence many times that we ALL accept that, as an statement)The COMMANDER has to required any help he needs even if someone may thing that he is an stupid.. .One night in Paris,after a football match the controller say as when we arrive to the holding position. "Clear to enter and takeoff" but we confirmed again this message because that night looks the frek. a little bit crowded. That was the difference to stay alive, the other two (air liberté and a short) didn´t were so lucky.Since then I try to confirm every time, specially with NOTAM WIP and so on.. .Please try to restablish all together the figure of the CAPTAIN or COMMANDER (in South Europe any time is one degree more). It´s not related to the unions is related to be professional and safe, we are humans and the first thing we have to accept is that sometimes we get it wrong (not only by ourselves that´s true).Restore this figure and the things that it involves (experience, seniority etc..) I was F/O for years and was wonderfull, when I arrived to the Left position I found it very confortable but every day I know that I may lose it and I have to take the decisions

Few Cloudy
4th Mar 2002, 06:12
Very true.