According to ITN, Mr. Blair was actually en-route to stay at the mansion of one of the "Bee Gees" lead singers..........

........and when Tony eventually arrived, they sang "Staying Alive", no doubt!!

The fact remains that if this was a normal flight (i.e. without a celebrity on board), this particular thing wouldn't even have made the news anywhere (except here on PPRUNE, of course). Media nonsense. Here on the radio news in the Middle East, it was reported that the "aircraft had overshot the runway and clipped the lights at the end of the runway as it tried to climb out........."

A300Man

As other posters have mentioned it probably only made news because their was a VIP on board.
Even so the Flight Crew will take a ribbing over this on arrival back in London and possibly the wrath of other certain individuals.

Ba 747 Taxi problem
 

Looks like the crew will have taxi training in the sim when they get back. Unless it was a management pilot in charge. In which case it will be Miami airports fault.Usual practice in such incidents.

OK, so there was Tony Bliar, his wife and some of their kids on board, no mention of the name of the VIP though, strange. Anyone know who they were?

Different aspects of the same incident
 

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/US/12/26...ane/index.html
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/...245269,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6211307.stm

As others have said a complete non event, no one would have heard about it if it wasn't for a couple of SLF on it!!

Feel sorry for the Pilots, will be in for a ribbing from their colleagues, hope BA don't do anything to them!

Saw on Generally Mediocre Television (GMTV) this morning the reporter saying that the aircraft was towed so it could make its way back to runway! Usual reporting where the whole airport is the runway :ugh:

Baw 747 Kmia
 

I suppose its worth suggesting that here we have another example of the rather lack-a-daisical mentality that exists in the US (where I have lived for decades) with regards to ATC procedures, runway lights (sometimes hardly worth the name), construction, and so forth (KLEX another more tragic example). I was an Air Traffic Contoller in the UK and am far more comfortable with ATC in the UK (not much experience in the rest of the world outside N America). A few years ago at EGLL a US pilot (on a long final for 27R) almost demanded landing clearance (would not accept "continue the approach") even though there was traffic lined up for t/o - and would be vacating the runway soon. Also remember the media probably dont realize that a B744 does not have a reverse gear......

Well, I disagree, this is NOT a non-event (if you'll pardon the double negative)

Translating the LDA into numbers I'm more familiar with I make it 2524 metres. There are runways with LDAs shorter than this in the UK regularly used by B747 arrivals. If 30 at MIA is CAT I or visual, I don't suppose it benefits from green centreline lighting on the exits, so presumably has blue edge lighting.

A trawl through the MIA NOTAMs for today suggests plenty of construction work in the area of the Terminal buildings (lots of cranes etc) but no reference to work out on the Manoeuvrig Area.

There seem to have been 2 possible scenarios:
a) the aircraft failed to come to a halt within the LDA and finished up in the departure Stopway.
b) the aircraft slowed sufficiently to make the turnoff onto Quebec but for some reason the available ground lighting failed to give sufficient cues to the crew as to the appropriate turn to take, so they taxi'd into the Stopway.
I'd be disappointed if the NTSB didn't carry out some sort of investigation, to prevent a recurrence.

I'd say that in this instance, the quote about being towed back to the runway IS accurate - the Stopway ain't part of the landing runway!

You're probably right about it not coming to the attention of the news media if HE hadn't been on board.

TheOddOne

Very poor Piloting. My guess is that the Captain used to be a bored bank manager and came into the profession late in life. Financed his training by selling his third house and really has no comprehension on how to stop an aircraft using no more than the LDA. The F/O has got 200 hours on a Cessna 150 and thinks that a good landing is soft! All the reward points go to touching down at the correct speed and on the touchdown markers. Sorry no points for the rest of it.

Latest headline on Yahoo! says "BA blame Miami airport for incident". Look no further for where this one is going....:ugh:

Was the aircraft at taxi speed and taxying or was it still in the landing roll?

TheOddOne
You are completely wrong on both counts. The a/c never left any paved surface.
The BA 747 was the third a/c to do this within a short period, MIA ground know all about it and maintenance on the TWY is scheduled. But a shame to let the facts get in the way of a good story, eh? :hmm:

VFR - yes I do know the reg but I can't imagine why you'd need to know so I'm not telling you!

There is a plan of MIA here. The aircraft rolled to the end of R30 and was aiming to make the 150 degree right turn towards taxiway M. Those familiar with MIA will know that area is a bit of a pigs ear and lacks adequate lighting. In the darkness the crew went taxied too far and crunched a few lights on the displaced threshold of R12 during the turn so decided to hold position whilst they got an inspection. The area of the incident can be found here although Google Earth gives a better image. Bit of a non-event.

This is an "EVENT" and needs to be analyzed and problems corrected.

Unless someone has data to refute the following:

the last 2000' of runway the runway lights (edge) turn an amber/yellow color

the last 3000' of centerline lights start to alternate red and white

the last 1000' of centerline lights are all red.


while a tough taxiway turnoff is just that, one must wonder about adequate lighting for the turnoff and , sorry pilots, proper briefing of the approach and expected turnoff .


another poster has indicated that there were other similiar incidents on this runway. if so, then time for some changes at MIA.

There are no centreline or edge lights for the turn off in question, and the red runway end lights are not actually at the end of the runway but some way beyond it.

NTSB Press Release on this Non Event
 

************************************************************
NTSB ADVISORY
************************************************************

National Transportation Safety Board
Washington, DC 20594

December 27, 2006

************************************************************

NTSB INVESTIGATING BRITISH AIRWAYS LANDING INCIDENT IN MIAMI

************************************************************

The National Transportation Safety Board is
investigating an incident that occurred last night at Miami
International Airport involving a British Airways Boeing
747. There were no injuries to the 343 persons aboard,
including British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his family.

At approximately 6:15 p.m. EST, December 26, British
Airways flight 209 from London landed on runway 30 at Miami
International Airport. The aircraft was a Boeing 747-400,
registration G-BNLM. After slowing to taxi speed, the
aircraft taxied beyond the end of the runway and went into
the paved runway overrun area. In so doing, it knocked down
two approximately 12-inch-high approach lights for runway 12
(the same runway in the opposite direction).

The aircraft was towed onto a taxiway, at which time
it proceeded under its own power to the gate. An inspection
revealed no damage to the aircraft or its tires and it
subsequently departed on its scheduled return flight to
London.

Jeff Kennedy from the NTSB's Southeast Regional Office
in Miami is the Investigator-in-Charge of this incident.
Damage to the runway lights has been documented and the
Safety Board will collect statements from the flight crew.

Bearing in mind the New Years Honours list is just around the corner you might like to amend that shortly to 'Lord BeeGee'



BB

I thought ex bank managers became cabin crew. Any way, bet it was a very senior captain because of the VVIPs on board. Some one who would not normally dream of bidding to go some where as "awful" as Miami.

(I quite like Florida, but then I'm "Charter".)

Well who ever it was, tough luck.

No it was a regular Joe. The management only turn up for the cushy charter flights, especially on Boxing Day.

This non-event event is gonna run for days no doubt, especially at this time of year. Does this mean Blair was an insurgent! :hmm: Waits for full in depth shallow 'analysis' of the possibility this was related to a terror strike, and for more stringent examination of passengers hand baggage as an obvious measure to 'reassure' everyone in the 'War on Terror'......sigh...