Re:40 years ago yesterday Air Canada Flight 143 ran out of f...
by Symbiote on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @04:07AM
(#36859379)
> while passengers disembarked on the inflatable slides.
This bit isn't right. They would have brought a tug out to the runway and towed the aircraft to a remote stand, then used a staircase.
The slides are only used if there's imminent danger of fire. People often get injured using them.
Re:40 years ago yesterday Air Canada Flight 143 ran out of f...
by stouset on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @12:41PM
(#36865176)
In principle this is true. In practice, without the engines on you don’t have hydraulics which means no anti-skid and the pilots have to stomp on the brakes. This means overheated brakes and popped tires, almost certainly starting small fires that will warrant the slides.
The plane did not run out of fuel. If the plane had run out of fuel, the flight crew would have prepared you for a potential crash landing. There would be no question whatsoever. It would have made national news. The plane and crew would have been grounded pending investigation by the airline and the NTSB, and not gone on to resume its journey shortly thereafter. Hell, everything else aside, it would have sat dead on the runway, unable to taxi, while passengers disembarked on the inflatable slides.
Your plane had plenty of fuel, it followed established procedure where they waited for as long as they could, diverted when the fuel situation warranted a change of plans, and landed at the alternate airport with more than enough fuel for at least one go-around and likely two.