If You Intend Flying Soon, Don't Watch This!

This is what we had to put up year after year up until 1998. Kai Tak is reckoned to the second most dangerous airport in the world. All planes had to do a steep turn above a built-up area before landing. We were lucky not to have a plane crashing into buildings. The pilots swore not only could they see the television sets in people's homes, they knew what programs they were watching. I have taken a very hard landing in a 747 at Kai Tak before, this was with a typhoon signal hoisted.

Well, the FAA, in the US outlawed flying within 1-2 miles of the rear of a 737. I'm sure they did something similar for 747s. For 737s it was because of accidents caused by turbulence. That wag to avert the collision was neat but, if it was in the US, someone likely got in trouble.

Some airports are poorly designed, or there are close communities, and the planes ave to do weird maneuvers to land and takeoff.

Steve

About the 747s being able to do that, I don't know. I don't think they are built to handle that kind of stress, but the engines are HUGE, they can go fast, and there IS inertia. They obviously had to do that earlier, and if one did that, it would make the more reasonable climb less practical. I mean SERIOUSLY, they could just make sure they flew on a certain level, and just pass. It would not only be easier and safer, but the passengers wouldn't have everything thrown all over the place.

It looks like they were both coming down to land. To have two planes so close to one another fly on two runways so close to one another, and do so crossing like that seems VERY phony! The approved way to handle such a thing IS to climb back up and come in for the approach if possible though, so the plane taking off again is expected.

But who knows. My favorite is how an air traffic controller, in LAX told a mexican pilot to turn one way and he turned the other. There was a near collision. The international language of aviation is English and pilots are supposed to know a subset which includes kindergarten level basics like turn, left, right, forward, stop, etc....

Steve