Posts about stuff relating to airports

Runway Strip Excursion: Bad Luck or Unintended Consequence?
Articles Dan Parsons Articles Dan Parsons

Runway Strip Excursion: Bad Luck or Unintended Consequence?

A little over a week ago, there was another spectacular runway excursion event caught on film and shared across social and traditional media. On the 7th April, 2021, a DHL 757-200 veered off the runway at Juan Santamaria airport in Costa Rica. The aircraft was returning to the airport after declaring an emergency due to a hydraulic issue. The aircraft appeared to have landed safely but towards the end of its roll-out, it veered to the right and came to rest in a low area with its nose high and tail broken. Luckily, this was a freighter flight and the crew evacuated safely.

Header image: Grabbed off Google

Read More
Is this Acceptable? When a runway strip isn't wide enough
Post Dan Parsons Post Dan Parsons

Is this Acceptable? When a runway strip isn't wide enough

This week, on Sunday, 14th January 2018, a Pegasus 737-800 veered off the runway at Trabzon, Turkey and came to rest on a steep slope quite close to the Black Sea. Obviously, it is way too early to speculate on the causes of the accident but as airport safety nerds, I think its okay for us to have a look at the role the runway strip played in this event. a few internet comments have questioned the compliance of the runway strip and it does look narrow. However, if Google Earth is to be believed, these comments and first thoughts might not be correct.

Read More
Integrating Runway Safety Teams with your Safety Management System
Articles Dan Parsons Articles Dan Parsons

Integrating Runway Safety Teams with your Safety Management System

I've just spent an amazing week in Bali1 workshopping with operators and regulators from the Asia-Pacific region (and some from further afield) on the issue of runway safety. We got a lot of good information from the Flight Safety Foundation, ICAO and COSCAP as well as airlines, airports and regional regulators.

The primary objective of the week was to provide information on and practice in the establishment and conduct of Local Runway Safety Teams (LRSTs). To this end, the seminars and workshop were great but I left feeling like one connection had been missed. The final question on my mind and many others, I am sure, was:

How do these runway safety initiatives integrate into my SMS?

Read More
St. Barth's Airport
Videos Dan Parsons Videos Dan Parsons

St. Barth's Airport

On the face of it, no Australian airport should ever have obstacle problems. I mean, look at the space we have! But of course, we have the odd hill and good ol' urban encroachment means that some airports are struggling with obstacle control. Nothing like St Barth's airport though...

Header image: Pixabay (via Pexels)

Read More