It’s a curse! It’s a blessing!
No … it’s an Airbus A380
Every time Qantas lands its Airbus A380, parts of the nation’s fourth-busiest airport come to a halt.
Because of the size of the aircraft, service roads, taxiways and runways need to be closed to airfield cars, trucks, and other commercial aircraft. The plane reportedly must be escorted by operational vehicles during arrival, departure, and taxi operations to create roadblocks and the tower must be fully staffed.
The A380’s wingspan is about 262 feet and the tail is 80 feet high. The maximum takeoff weight is 1.2 million pounds and it can carry 450 to 853 passengers and 50 percent more cargo than any other aircraft.
In contrast, the 747 has a wingspan of 211 feet and the tail is 64 feet high. The maximum takeoff weight is 875,000 pounds and it can carry 416 to 660 people.
So why does the A380 need extra attention?
When the aircraft flies into and out of the airport, other aircraft must maintain a longer distance because of strong wake turbulence, which can cause a plane to lose control. Heavy jets, such as the 747, must maintain a six mile separation while lighter aircraft must maintain a ten mile separation.
LAX has four parallel runways, intersected by taxiways leading to the terminals. When the A380 is taxiing towards the south runway complex, all landings and departures on the inner runway must stop because one of the wings intrudes into the runway’s safety zone, which must remain clear of obstacles. A parallel service road must also be closed, which can cause a back up as the aircraft moves towards the Bradley International Terminal.
During cloudy and foggy weather, the aircraft is given priority for departure. If it has to wait, it can disrupt radio signals from the airport’s instrument landing system.
When the A380 taxis from the south side of the Bradley terminal to maintenance, it has to use one of two north-south taxiways. Because of the wing size, no other aircraft can use the other one.
Jeff Cunnyngham, the FAA operations supervisor at LAX, estimates that “runway closures can last three to five minutes, while road closures last five to 10 minutes.”
In addition, FAA procedures state than when an A380 is stopped on certain taxiways, nearby runways must be closed to departures and arrivals because its 80-foot tail juts into an area that must remain free of obstacles. Also, air traffic controllers say that when the plane lands or takes off, taxiways between runways must remain clear of other aircraft because the wings jut into safety zones.
Air traffic controllers and LAX officials caution that as more and more of the A380s are put into service, they could “hamper airport operations and delay other commercial flights if improvements to runways, taxiways and terminals are not made in the next few years.”
Despite the occasional griping from the airlines, Qantas, LAX and the FAA say that operations have gone fairly well since October when Qantas started A380 operations.
Bruce W. Kinsler, a former FAA air traffic control specialist, says that “[f]or the most part, the A380 does not create many problems when it arrives and departs in the off-peak hours, but it could create delays if it starts operating in significant numbers.”
Published on January 26, 2009·
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