Why would it take so long? I looked at the flights and they cancelled a couple of hours’ worth of arrivals.
I wonder what private plane this was… for the press, the moment there is the word private, it’s a SEP. It could well be a larger plane. Could not find any details, but not a lot of “small planes” actually use SXF.
They’re probably going to scoop the runway too for debris. That could take a bit (but not sure how long, probably not 2h).
The thing is to the press a Gulfstream V is a “small private plane”. It’s trivial to move (say) a Warrior with a burst tyre, rather less so to move a Gulfstream. Of course the article doesn’t even mention the aircraft type.
[erroneous post deleted]
I have had a bursted tire twice over the years on two bigger airports with a Piper Arrow. In both cases the fire departement was only equiped to handle much bigger aircrafts. So to avoid any damage on the rectable gear of my plane it took them nearly two hours to get me off the runway and to pull me to the parking position.
Here is a link to a German newspaper article: http://www.morgenpost.de/berlin/article208739241/Panne-Kleinflugzeug-legt-Flughafen-Schoenefeld-still.html
It was a Mu2. They are so rare that even an (otherwise) experienced maintenance shop will have no idea on how to tow them safely with a burst tire…
I find it amusing they focus on how the closure means Tegel might still be needed. No, what is needed is Brandenburg to be opened properly with two parallel runways! Then no plane can close the airport.
According to the German newspaper article the tire did burst on the taxiway. So why did they close the runway? Maybe the distance to the runway was too short?
Peter wrote:
Why would it take so long?
There are quite a number of reasons that can take a long time:
- On a larger airport you cannot just drive out and “rescue” a plane. Escorts need to be arranged etc.
- Without a new tyre, how are you going to move the plane?
- A new tyre needs to be arranged that might not be readily available for that type of aircraft
- Even if you had a spare tyre, how would you lift the plane? Who has equipment of the right strength that does not rip the plane apart, but also is able to lift the plane properly? You can’t just use a forklift without putting some thought into it.
