...spianare colline no, ok, ma cosa ci facciano alti alberi da fusto nel cuore del finale sulla 18 di BHM non lo capisco; un A300-600 heavy non ha forse bisogno di tutti i 7099 piedi/2160 metri di pista per cui cerca di abbassarsi quanto piu' possibile per toccare in testa, tipo SXM? Gli esperti macchina che dicono?
Si evidenzia inoltre che la main runway (+500ft di differenza) fosse chiusa per manutenzione...
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- Landing on Runway 18 at Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport can be tricky for pilots, particularly ones flying big jets like the UPS cargo carrier that crashed this week, killing two people.
With a large hill and trees at one end, the runway lacks the electronics for a full instrument landing. That forces pilots to make key judgments about altitude while aiming a descending aircraft at a runway that's 5,000 feet shorter than the airport's main runway, which was closed for maintenance work at the time of the crash. Some pilots simply avoid landing on 18 when possible, an expert said.
"When I heard they were using Runway 18, it caught my attention because of that hill," Ross Aimer, a veteran commercial pilot, said Friday. "It's sad, but it didn't surprise me."
Aimer, a retired United Airlines captain, is now chief executive of Aero Consulting Experts, a firm based in Los Angeles.
The National Transportation Safety Board hasn't determined what caused the crash of the UPS A300 airplane early Wednesday, but officials have said a preliminary investigation didn't reveal any evidence of engine failure before the plane struck trees about one mile away from the end of the runway. Officials were assessing data from the aircraft's cockpit voice and data recorders on Friday.
The A300, which weighs about 172,700 pounds when empty, was at the end of a 45-minute flight from Louisville, Ky., to Birmingham when it went down. A flight summary from flightaware.com, which tracks airplanes, shows the aircraft made a descent in steps, which Aimer said is a "dive and drive" method common on runways with the same navigational guidance as Runway 18.
Robert Sumwalt, a member of the NTSB, said the aircraft went down during its first landing attempt. Sumwalt said investigators have not found any problems with the runway's lights or navigation system, which typically provides pilots with information about their lateral position but not about their altitude, unlike those on runways where pilots can land using only instruments.
National Weather Service records from the morning of the crash show the plane would have descended through overcast conditions to only a few clouds at 1,100 feet. Within seconds after the plane hit a tree and at least one turbine sucked in wood, the twin-engine plane crashed.
It hit the base of that large hill mentioned by Aimer, who said he had landed on Runway 18 about a half-dozen times, including some flights as a cargo pilot.
Located near the southern tip of the Appalachian foothills, Birmingham's airport is nestled in a low spot between Red Mountain to the south and hills that lie at the northern end of Runway 18, which is 7,000 feet long. The main runway is 12,000 feet long and runs east-west, meaning pilots don't have to negotiate the rough terrain.
The NTSB said the longer runway was closed for maintenance work on its lights early Wednesday, leaving the shorter runway as the only path to the ground. Runway 18 is an approved runway with a valid approach, Aimer said, but pilots generally avoid it if possible.
"It is definitely legal, but if I had a choice I'd use another runway first," he said.
A key task for investigators will be determining why the UPS jet was low enough to hit trees. The impact sheared off pieces of the aircraft and sent them crashing onto two homes along with large pieces of limbs.
Residents who live near the airport said they have worried for years about the possibility of a plane crash. One, Cornelius Benson, said workers from the airport authority cut the tops out of some trees several years ago because they were too close to aircraft.
UPS identified the victims of the crash as Capt. Cerea Beal, Jr., 58, of Matthews, N.C., and First Officer Shanda Fanning, 37, of Lynchburg, Tenn.
R.I.P. Capt n F/O... :-(
