EMA incident? Runway Blocked?
 

Just heard on BBC news that EMA runway is blocked due to cargo aircraft incident. Anyone any news? Can't find any threads relating to it

Runway 27/09 is closed. Appears to be left main gear collapsed. Looks like everyone is ok though.

It's an air contractors 737, all ok, thank goodness...

Good to hear all ok

Nothing exciting but it looks like EMA will be out of use for most of the day.

BBC News - East Midlands Airport flights suspended after cargo plane problem

http://www.aircontractors.com/

Info on EMA incident

Same thing happened on Honiara with the air work aircraft

http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/f...psc64dc157.jpg

http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/f...a.jpg~original



Gear about a fuselage length behind the aircraft.

:)

I must admit I'm impressed by the press release - very clear and straightforward.

Good effort also by Thomson / Monarch / Jet 2 who have pushed their punters out to MAN/LBA/BHX to get them to destination albeit late but great job for trying esp a lot of crews/flights going to Egypt etc a lot later than planned whereas other airlines just cancelled their flights. Punters should take note that "Charter" airlines will at least give it a go! :\

Charter airlines are not allowed to cancel flights, by law. So they have to give it a go.

How would they actually move that aircraft exactly an would it be damaged enough to be written off?

Every aircraft has lifting points.

A crane will be brought in. It will be attached to the aircraft by one or more of the lifting points and the port wing will then be raised up enough to get a salvage sled underneath and the aircraft will be lowered back onto the sled.

This will then allow the aircraft to be slowly and carefully recovered to a stand where the crane will again raise the port wing up off the recovery sled, the sled will be removed and a giant aircraft jack stand (Think of a cross between a car axle stand and a construction acroprop) will be placed under the wing at one of the designated points and the aircraft lowered onto it.

This will then hold the wing off the floor and allow the engineers to begin a full assessment of the aircraft.

From what I understand it is likely to need a new landing gear and engine casing, maybe a new engine but largely the aircraft is intact as it only occured as the aircraft was almost at taxi speed to vacate the runway.

I should point out that a) this wont be able to start until the AAIB approve it on completion of insitu investigations and b) it wont be the airport doing the recovery. The airline insurer will arrange the recovery by their prefered specialists though they may ask the airport to obtain certain items (such as the crane or one of the various national Aircraft Recovery Kits held at a couple of airports around the country) from local suppliers. The normal two in the UK are British Airways Engineering or Air Salvage International.


Though even recovering the aircraft wont be the end. The airport will then have to get and damage to the runway and lighting etc. repaired before they can reopen. Again, these activities cant start until AAIB approve it.

They were lifting it with airbags, should have been shifted by about 8pm ish, they had to resurface part of the runway behind it. Recovery lot came from Kemble I believe. AAIB was there in the morning I believe.

From East Mids Airport Website

Mr Angry
Monarch are a scheduled operator out of EMA, and we very rarely cancel. I have long understood that our passengers prefer to depart late rather than have their flight cancelled and given a 0870 number to rebook!

I agree Air Contractors statements were sincere and factual. Well done

I wouldn't be so sure. Depending on the collateral damage resulting from a large chunk of the MLG being torn away, repairs to a 24-year-old B734 may not be economic.

In a situation such as this, would the flight crew have declared a May Day or just communicate with the tower that the aircraft has a very serious problem?

I was also thinking of the Speedbird 744 which had a bump on the taxiway in South Africa.

At 3am the big bright shower of sparks that would have come off it probably gave ATC the first clue.