Carcass on RWY 28 Dublin Airport
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Ireland
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Carcass on RWY 28 Dublin Airport
I'm just back as a passenger on a flight from Heathrow to Dublin,around 2200, the pilot did a missed approach because the control tower informed him there may be a carcass reported on the runway....does this mean an earlier plane may have hit a large animal on landing?? Anyone hear, anything further on this?
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Ireland
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I would have thought it would be safer to squash a squirrel or rabbit with a 737 rather than do a go around? What damage could a little furry animal like that do?
Guest
Posts: n/a
And you can't be sure what it is until someone has gone and looked. All ATC get from the crew, not unreasonably, is "We think we hit an animal on take-off" or whatever. Occasionally a larger animal can get on to an airfield, I've seen a deer or two in my time, and if an aircraft hits a small deer or something of that elk (sorry, couldn't resist it) at speed it could well leave a few bits of aircraft on the runway too.
A big aircraft at high speed on a runway is carrying a lot of energy and even small bits of debris can cause big problems - this is why runways are regularly inspected and reports of debris are taken seriously.
A big aircraft at high speed on a runway is carrying a lot of energy and even small bits of debris can cause big problems - this is why runways are regularly inspected and reports of debris are taken seriously.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 310
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
KLM 737 from AMS-Barcelona hit a buzzard on rotation at AMS a year or so ago which damaged the nose-gear steering mechanism which then caused the aircraft to veer off the runway on touchdown at Barcelona resulting in the airframe being written off & a full evac, so even relatively small critters (I think a buzzard weighs just a couple of kilos), dead or alive, can cause potentially catastrophic situations!
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Ireland
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Was my first missed approach on an airliner and seemed quiet dramatic...engines kicking off full blast when was expecting to land in within 20 seconds. All because of a little furry animal on the runway! I wonder how much that go around cost the airline! Darn rabbits!
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: London, UK
Posts: 37
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hitting anything on a runway can cause damage. I rejected a take-off quite close to V1 once because we hit a heron; examing the normally straight fan-blades afterwards we could see they were bent at 90 degrees..... If in doubt on an approach it's always safer to go-around.
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: London, Berlin, Bucharest
Posts: 284
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
thomsonfly had 2 birds go into one engine last yead wich forced them to shut it down. when i was training for my ppl i was on my second solo flight and horses got onto the runway! i think a go around was a very good choice.
as stated earlier go arounds are safe and are for exactly this sort of thing. im pretty sure though that the ATC asked him to go around as ryanair's O'leary was running down the runway with a shovel inorder to make a fresh delivery to his caterers!
as stated earlier go arounds are safe and are for exactly this sort of thing. im pretty sure though that the ATC asked him to go around as ryanair's O'leary was running down the runway with a shovel inorder to make a fresh delivery to his caterers!
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Under the clag EGKA
Posts: 1,026
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A little furry animal could have sharp bones that could puncture a tyre.
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Tracey Island
Posts: 1,496
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Or it could simply be ingested into the turbine engine, or damage any other part of the undercarriage, not just the tires... 
Also if there is a dead animal around it attracts rather large birds....
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Riga
Posts: 244
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Go around is always the best option.
I VERY VERY much doubt bones from anything would puncture a tyre. I am the proud owner of one of those dunkin dunlops that you would find on 73/757 (same tyre) (and no, before you think it, I am not a sad enthusiast, I used to be an instructor and it was a training aid). The tyre has a nominal tread depth which the layman would probably measure in cm or inches not mm. Even at the sidewall (the thinnest part), the thickness is still much greater than the thickest part of the heaftiest car tyres I have ever seen.
I would suspect the greatest risk comes from ingestion into the engine - the go-around will always be cheaper than a new engine and down-time.
I once remember crossing the threshold at a GA field when a hunt of several dogs and horses crossed the threshold ahead of me. No fatalities so MOL missed out on the free catering.
Call100 good point about the extra birds ripping the poor dead thing apart - I remember once winding up in the middle of a flock on rollout, I still have no idea how we avoided ingesting any of them.
I VERY VERY much doubt bones from anything would puncture a tyre. I am the proud owner of one of those dunkin dunlops that you would find on 73/757 (same tyre) (and no, before you think it, I am not a sad enthusiast, I used to be an instructor and it was a training aid). The tyre has a nominal tread depth which the layman would probably measure in cm or inches not mm. Even at the sidewall (the thinnest part), the thickness is still much greater than the thickest part of the heaftiest car tyres I have ever seen.
I would suspect the greatest risk comes from ingestion into the engine - the go-around will always be cheaper than a new engine and down-time.
I once remember crossing the threshold at a GA field when a hunt of several dogs and horses crossed the threshold ahead of me. No fatalities so MOL missed out on the free catering.
Call100 good point about the extra birds ripping the poor dead thing apart - I remember once winding up in the middle of a flock on rollout, I still have no idea how we avoided ingesting any of them.
Last edited by Romeo India Xray; 15th Jul 2008 at 13:28. Reason: Response to call100
