EBCI: A320 wingtip clearance TWY "M5" & "H"- collision risk?
 

Hello all,

I recently flew with a senior captain colleage of mine to EBCI Charleroi in an A320 (Sharklet version).

After Landing RWY25 we were told to taxi "N, M5 then right onto H". Please see image, attached.

I was PF.

As we were turning right from M5 onto H my friend expressed very strong concern that we were uncomfortably close to the vertical lighting poles that are positioned at that intersection/ TWY H.

I was following the yellow line with the nosewheel. He explained that if I did that then the inner main gear would track 'inside' (closer) to the obstacles. Which I understand. But does a risk of collision exist?

Does the turn assume that pilots will apply an appreciable amount of 'oversteer' (track the nosewheel outboard of the centreline when going around the corner)?
I didn't do that, I just kept the nosewheel on the yellow line. But I definitely didn't go 'inside' the turn with the nosewheel.

Could anyone please provide an airport/apron diagram of this area which shows the dimensions between the TWY Centreline and those lighting poles? (Google Earth gives only a very approximate idea of the distances).

The A320 Sharklet has, if I have understood correctly, a 35.80M winspan versus the standard 34.10M of the 'standard' model which may or may not be of significance.

Many thanks.

Can't talk to the specifics of your case/your type/ airport in question but as a general point certainly on some types in some situations if you don't use "judgmental oversteer" and instead simply run the nose wheel along the yellow line you can be at serious risk of putting the gear on the inside of the turn off the paved surface....

Any guidance in your FCOM/FCTM?

I taxi to miss everything. Thats it! I don't want to go about justifying that I was in the right because of [insert your argument here].

Now to do this, in a tight environment I use judgemental oversteer. That's because if the mains are around the centreline, you know that the wingtip is in the right place. It's not your nose thats the problem (you're in it, control it, so are unlikely to anything daft with it), it's either where the inside wheel is, or the wingtip... Always increase your margins...

Agreed, unless the yellow line is displaced accordingly always aim to overshoot to ensure the main gear straddles the yellow line. Many taxiways are Max 36M span and these require very careful taxiing. I fly a 738 but the principle is the same as with our winglets the span is a whisker shy of 36M too.

The principle is exactly the same as an articulated truck. If all those drivers just followed the line there'd be a load of crushed cars, dead pedestrians on sidewalks waiting to cross the road, etc etc :D