Air France A380 clips a Comair CRJ at JFK . . . video

[bizjets101]

Bloomberg News

[flyalmaguin]

"Ladies and gentlemen, good evening and welcome to John F Kennedy airport. Please remain seated with your belt fastened until the plane comes to a complete stop AND the captain switches off the seatbelt sign...... WTF was THAT!?!?!?!"

How many times do people hear this yet some idiots will decide they can beat the rush off the plane by standing up and grabbing their bags out of the overhead bins (just to wait for the jetway, stairs, etc)?

Feel bad for the rampie assigned to watch the wing tips. Perhaps a language barrier?

[Changes in Latitudes]

Moocow wins!

viewtopic.php?f=79&t=73045

Good point flyalmaguin, I have witnessed a person get thrown to the ground while taxiing to the gate. The person jumped up when the aircraft stopped early, the aircraft proceeded again to only have to jam on the brakes when a truck passed in front of the aircraft. Some people clapped and cheered when this guy hit the ground.

[Mclovin]

Wow!

[the_cr]

Not the part of the flight you expect to find turbulence. Amazing how hard the Airbus throws it.

Bring on the Whiplash claims

[W0X0F]

Take one perfectly serviceable aircraft and ram it into another perfectly serviceable aircraft. I pity the poor SOB that has to write the cheque for repairs on that one.

[Panama Jack]

Hmmm. Will the hearing be with US Trial Lawyers or in a French Kangaroo Court?

[OceansEdge]

[The Hammer]

Another one of the limitations to large aircraft you just don't think about. Can you see the wingrtips and can you accurate judge differential distances at that range.

A Jazz Dash 8 was struck on the tail in YVR by an A330 about 5 years ago while holding on a taxiway for an intersection departure off 26R. The 330 was taxiing on the taxiway parallel the runway.

A ford focus has enough sensors to park itself maybe that will be the fix here

We are a profession that overshoots 10000 ft runways in a variety of equipment.

[oldtimer]

This is just off the top but I do believe if the A380 had his nosewheel on the yellow taxiway stripe, it is Comair's fault. I will bet Comair were waiting for a gate and did not or could not taxi off the taxiway far enough. The yellow line is there for a purpose.
It will be interesting to see what the various spin doctors will make of this. I always told my co-pilots and new captains to keep the nosewheel on the yellow line just for this purpose. It is amazing how many new pilots will cut the corners on a taxiway when they are converting from small to larger airplanes.

[Localizer]

This is just off the top but I do believe if the A380 had his nosewheel on the yellow taxiway stripe, it is Comair's fault. I will bet Comair were waiting for a gate and did not or could not taxi off the taxiway far enough. The yellow line is there for a purpose.
It will be interesting to see what the various spin doctors will make of this. I always told my co-pilots and new captains to keep the nosewheel on the yellow line just for this purpose. It is amazing how many new pilots will cut the corners on a taxiway when they are converting from small to larger airplanes.

I don't think so .. Yellow line or not .. an aircraft is in front of you waiting for ground crew .. you wait till he parks. Is it just me or is Jeff Gordon taxing that A380??? ..

[MUSKEG]

I thought the same thing. He is moving fast especially being in close proximity to other aircraft.

[old_man]

All I have to say is that CRJ is one tough little bird. It looks like the A380 lost part of it's winglet in the process but the CRJ was able to take such a hit, be spun 90 degrees (by it's tail) and not come apart.

Although I am sure that it suffered structural damage of some sort.

[TG]

Is it just me or is Jeff Gordon taxing that A380??? ..

It has to be a sped up video.

[ArcticKat]

I thought the same thing. He is moving fast especially being in close proximity to other aircraft.

Well, I timed how long it took for the A380 to travel from one wingtip to the other on the CRJ, 2.75 seconds over 20 metres.

Just a hair over 26kph by my assessment.

[Siddley Hawker]

Zoot alors!

[BTD]

The video is running faster than normal speed. If you look at other cues, you can tell. Also the way the RJ stops after being pushed doesn't look right.

I'll bet it was travelling quite a bit slower than it looks and the momentum and weight of the 380 pushed the RJ around a lot slower then it seems.

Still dangerous and unfortunate though.

[Maynard]

The bright blurb coming out of the bottom right corner is a rampie walking....the way he walks and then turns really quick makes it clear it's been sped up.

[ArcticKat]

The bright blurb coming out of the bottom right corner is a rampie walking....the way he walks and then turns really quick makes it clear it's been sped up.

I dunno, it looks to me like the rampie was jogging to try to get the CRJ to move forward because he recognised the danger, then ran like hell when they collided. Turned around and ran back to do whatever he was going to do when the video cut off....Anyone know how quicky that beacon should flash on the top of the CRJ? I timed them at 2.1 seconds apart. Or about 28 times a minute from the video.

Edit:
According to my research the beacon flashes at 22.5 per minute so I would agree, it likely has been accelerated. But then, that research is based on another post in another forum.

[DeuceEng]

With the large aircraft, it really does not matter if you are on the centre line of those taxiways..their width at JFK is 75 feet. The A380 has a 260ft wingspan. To me that means that the pilots have to be extra careful to ensure wingtip clearance. Personally, I just think that Air France really hates airplanes.

[ScudRunner]

I heard Lufthansa was taxiing behind Air France so they where at full retreat power setting.

[pez]

I heard Lufthansa was taxiing behind Air France so they where at full retreat power setting.

Heh.

[Topspin]

The RJ's wingtip really appears to be in the vicinity of those road lights, compared to A380 wingspan on the line.

[oldtimer]

Does anyone know if the Port Authority did anything to widen the taxiways before the introduction of the A380. Remember all the discussion about the cost of modifying airport infastructure to handle the airplane. Does that include taxiways?
I still stand by the remarks that if the A380 was on the taxiway, it was up to Comair and/or ATC and/or the Port Authority to ensure that there is sufficient clearance.
I doubt whether the A380 pilots can see ther wingtips and would certainly not be able to judge if there was sufficient clearance. Now if the Comair RJ was stopped on a taxiway, that is different but it looks like the RJ was in the ramp area, but just not far enough. It is feeding frenzie time for the spin doctors.

[fish4life]

do they not have a camera on the tail for this reason?