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Block of concrete falls from plane over Newcastle

 
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Cherskiy



Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 3701
Location: near Amble, Northumberland

PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2007 7:57 pm    Post subject: Block of concrete falls from plane over Newcastle Reply with quote

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/6643891.stm

I'll have to check with my mates in ATC to see whether the block was being carried inside the aircraft or whether somehow the Cherokee took over dragging the block behind it! Smile

Aircraft parked in the open on the south side apron at Newcastle Airport are tied-down using these blocks, especially if they're going to be left unattended for a period of time. It is not unknown for light aircraft to be flipped over in high winds - it's happened once or twice here before.
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gfloyd



Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 4861
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PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2007 7:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Could be Scottish builders starting to bomb Newcastle. Laughing How are those independence talks going in Edinburgh? Wink
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Cherskiy



Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 3701
Location: near Amble, Northumberland

PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2007 8:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

We'd better start rebuilding Hadrian's Wall, in that case.... Laughing

On second thoughts, given the way the Scottish Parliament seem to be doing this, that and the other for folks north of the border, I'd be happy for Northumberland to be gifted to Scotland - just move the border southwards from Carlisle to the Tyne. We're marginalised by London, so we wouldn't be any worse off....
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mark occomore



Joined: 07 Dec 2006
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Location: UK

PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2007 8:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe they are protesting about Newcastle United football club.. Laughing
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Cherskiy



Joined: 08 Dec 2006
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Location: near Amble, Northumberland

PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2007 8:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, they should brush up on their bomb-aiming in that case - Jesmond Tennis Club is about two miles from St James' Park! Laughing
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Helen May



Joined: 10 Dec 2006
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Location: Cheshire

PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2007 8:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I guess my O/H will be on the phone to ours in ATC as well!

Slight difference in the size of Jesmond Tennis club as well... My old school was a stones throw from there. <yikes>

H
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iwarburton



Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 2133
Location: Northumberland

PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2007 11:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I live in Northumberland but am about a mile south of the Tyne so you'd need to move the border a bit further south to include all Northumberland and Tyne and Wear.

Bring it on!

Ian.
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Cherskiy



Joined: 08 Dec 2006
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Location: near Amble, Northumberland

PostPosted: Tue May 15, 2007 8:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So, what really happened: the Cherokee was visiting Newcastle Airport, it wasn't one of the locally-based aircraft (I'll not say which one it was to avoid embarassing the pilot further).

The cable attaching the concrete tie-down to the aircraft's wing was still attached when the pilot got into the plane and started the engine up ready for departure - my source tells me there was a 'chalk-mark' running across the parking apron from where he'd parked up to the edge of the runway, made when the block was dragged across the ground! Shocked

We still can't work out how he didn't realise something was amiss, since the aircraft would have crabbed over to one side a little whilst taxying, he'd have needed more power to take off, plus his trim settings would have been all wrong once airborne....

I suspect the CAA will be having words.
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Lord Evan Elpuss



Joined: 10 Dec 2006
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PostPosted: Tue May 15, 2007 8:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I may be a little out of my depth here, not being a pilot, just an aircraft enthusiast, but I have a problem imagining a light plane like a PA-28 getting airborne with a concrete block still attached to it's wing. Surely the very least that would happen is that it would seriously affect the aircraft's flying charactistics, at worst perhaps causing the wing to be ripped off the aircraft.
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Mark Mayhew



Joined: 11 Dec 2006
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PostPosted: Tue May 15, 2007 8:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Excuse my ignorance-if this concrete block had landed on someone wouldn't it have killed them or seriously injured them at the very least.
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Cherskiy



Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 3701
Location: near Amble, Northumberland

PostPosted: Wed May 16, 2007 5:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

LEE, Mark, yes, you're both correct.

As I mentioned earlier, no-one I've spoken to can understand how the PA-28 pilot managed to get airborne without realising something was wrong. It is theoretically possible for a Cherokee (especially one of the R and RT versions) to get airborne pulling a rope tied to a reasonably heavy concrete block (LEE, you'll have seen them before, so you know the size I mean). However, this one was just a bulk-standard PA-28-161 Warrior.

(It also does crew ferries on behalf of a major charter airline so you'd think they'd know better!)

Mark, you're spot on in saying that the block would have killed someone if it had struck them - another few hundred yards south and it would have hit a residential area.
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Triumph Herald



Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 85
Location: Bucks

PostPosted: Fri May 25, 2007 6:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If nothing else, the CAA should be asking if they can incorporate details of this fantastic adventure in the pilot training syllabus.

Calculate the take-off roll required (a) on a warm day; (b) with a crosswind; (c) with a dirty great lump of concrete dangling from the strut.

Landing test: (a) glide approach; (b) flapless; (c) short field; (d) asymmetric concrete dangle. Razz
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Cherskiy



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Location: near Amble, Northumberland

PostPosted: Fri May 25, 2007 7:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Laughing Laughing Laughing
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