Aborted Take off Oslo
 

During the Christmas period I took a flight from Oslo to Bodo. About 20 seconds into our takeoff the Captain cut the engines and pulled off the runway. He came on the intercom and said that he had a warning light from his 'Speedbrake Indicator' which he said was a commen fault and was now reset. As the plane turned off the runway I noticed another aircraft landing. My question is was the 'Speedbrake Indicator' warning a way of saving face because another aircraft was about to land, or is it a commen fault as the Captain claimed ?

OK Wizo here goes. 20 secs down the runway is quite a long way down by the way! Your plane is cleared to line up and take off with traffic say on 5 miles final (could legally be less). Your crew get the cockpit indication and decide to abort. They report this to ATC (tower) who will instruct them to vacate at the nearest exit, informing them of the position of the landing traffic. ATC then inform the landing traffic that they may expect a late landing clearance or possible go-around as there's one a/c still to vacate the runway. (The landing a/c will probably have heard your a/c reporting the abort). ATC and the pilot of the landing a/c are constantly monitoring the situation. If your a/c had not vacated in time the landing a/c would have not got a landing clearance and would have initiated a standard go-around procedure. All very normal and very safe. Your perceived scenario is only reserved for third rate Hollywood movies ;)

Thanks Avman, your probably right about the 20 seconds bit, it had been a long day and was probably nearer 5 seconds:ok: Just to clarify what is a 'Speedbrake Indicator' - I'm a passenger not an expert !

A speed brake is a device for slowing the aircraft in the air, by creating extra drag.

It uses spoilers on the wings or the fuselage, depending on the type of aircraft.
Therefore one does not wish to take off if the warning light is showing, as it is like driving a car with the handbrake on!

Perhaps it was only an indication error (the speedbrake was not really deployed), but the crew would need to stop and check it out.

I hope that this clarifies your question.

FYI, I am not an airline pilot, but a PPL with 15 hours training on an airline simulator, where the instructor demonstrated this situation - BTW it is called a rejected take off.

Thanks for that Final 3 Greens:)

aborted take-off Oslo
 

;) Wizo, sounds like you've had a bad experience. Also sounds like you're an interesting guy who'd like to learn more about aircraft?

An interesting first post MQASTCC! You're not confusing PPRuNe for a dating agency by any chance? :}

wizo - there is no way on earth a take-off would be rejected because another plane is "about to land". Worst case - the landing aircraft would be instructed to go-around.