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2 planes bump into each other at Tokyo's Haneda airport

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When I use to fly, I had a few mishaps with my aircraft as well. The wings are so long.

-22 ( +3 / -25 )

Good that the contact damage occured on the runway and no person was hurt.

17 ( +19 / -2 )

@Michael Machida: You had a 'few' mishaps? What's happened here is incredibly rare at any first rate airport such as Haneda - considering the hundreds of movements every day. There is not nearly enough information in the news report to indicate who is to blame. Yes - wings are 'long' to state the obvious but the planes involved were not anything out of the ordinary. What a ridiculous comment.

23 ( +28 / -5 )

@theResident

My aircraft had some really long wings that went on forever. I know. Strange....

-20 ( +4 / -24 )

The obvious problem that needs fixing as soon as possible is that the pilot sits in the cockpit at the front while the wings are towards the middle of the plane so very difficult to see.

Simple solution would be to move the wings to where the pilot can easily see them.

Not rocket science is it?

-12 ( +7 / -19 )

How comes they don't have proximity warning like in a car?

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Wing length, size and location are specifically designed to allow the aircraft to fly, safely, and provide the best stability and fuel consumtion. The solution to runway collisioms is not to alterthe aircraft.

My car ding dongs warnings when I'm close to anything. To the point of annoying. No reason why such sensors can not be used on aircraft.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

I’m still trying to figure out how something can be partially damaged from the caption.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Wow!

So many aeronautical design experts here.

As well as trained aircraft accident/incident analysts chiming in.

Heavy sarcasm intended.

-3 ( +6 / -9 )

Peter Neil

I’m still trying to figure out how something can be partially damaged from the caption

perhaps because only a part of the aircraft was damaged ;)

Proximity warning would be of so infrequent use as to be uneconomic.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Multiple safety measures are supposedly on place to avoid this, it is worrying that the accident still happened, can make people think what other things could be happening.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

If the pilots of the two Taiwan & Thai planes cannot even taxi their planes on the ground of the airport.... how can passengers trust them in the air? Let this be a warning to passengers: Do Not Fly Tai or Thai! Okay?

-7 ( +2 / -9 )

proximity sensors for airplanes might be useless. a heavy plane has a large momentum. meaning it's speed can not change in a moment nor it can change it's course suddenly. it is unthinkable how a runnig plane could brake without a severe impact on passengers.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

The solution is obvious: Social Distance! Stay at least 2 meters away from other planes. If it is to difficult to avoid colliding, then add a margin of safety!

3 ( +4 / -1 )

It ONLY requires a little effort and common sense for a pilot to turn back to look at his wingtip when he is in a tight spot, but hardly any of them do that anymore. (yes you CAN see the wingtip from the flight deck even from the B747)

If a procedure is written in a manual they memorize it if it's not in the manual they don't need to study it to get promoted.

Piloting skill has been dying for a couple of decades and will very soon be way surpassed by AI and auto flight systems technology.

In 30 years human pilots will be thought of as you think of the relevance of a horse driver today.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

A passenger on the Eva Airways flight told reporters that there was an "impact" as the plane was waiting to depart,

If the Eva plane really wasn't moving, that puts the blame on the Thai Airlines pilot.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

The obvious problem that needs fixing as soon as possible is that the pilot sits in the cockpit at the front while the wings are towards the middle of the plane so very difficult to see.

Simple solution would be to move the wings to where the pilot can easily see them.

I just did a little research on the internet and found out that having the wings towards the middle is to allow the plane to fly. Who would have thought? And having the pilots sit at the front allows them to see mountains earlier and not fly into them. Its also easier to shoo away birds during flight. However, I'm still not convinced as the pilots are unable to see anything when in the clouds and having the cockpit at the rear would also be more convenient for the toilet.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Planes do have proximity warning systems that tell pilots (in flight) when they're getting dangerously close (100s of meters) to disturbing things, like the ground, mountains etc. (Doesn't anyone else watch "Mayday"?)

I have no idea really, but maybe it would be impossible to combine a vital system like that with something else that tells you you're really close to another aircraft on the ground. Wouldn't it be going off constantly on the runway?

If it's wing to wing contact between taxiing planes, eye contact and common sense SHOULD be enough.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Taxiing is a busy time in the cockpit. You have wing walkers in and out of the gate, but once you’re in the alley, you’re on your own.

Obviously the first officer didn’t have his/her head on swivel. It happens. At least they don’t have to parallel park…

0 ( +0 / -0 )

You have wing walkers in and out of the gate

I'm not sure what you mean. Planes randomly coming up next to you? That shouldn't happen.

I don't think anyone has mentioned the air traffic controllers. Maybe one of them mistakenly put two planes in the same area. Either that, or one of the pilots wasn't listening to the controller. It comes down to one of the two scenarios...plain and simple.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

That’s like dropping your motorcycle in the parking lot because the asphalt was slick, grrr

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If the Eva plane really wasn't moving, that puts the blame on the Thai Airlines pilot.

Well according to Japanese insurance companies, Eva would probably be found to be at at least 10% at fault. Thai could only be found 100% at fault if they had hit them squarely in the back, but it was a wing it seems, so Eva is partially guilty, just for being there!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Simple solution would be to move the wings to where the pilot can easily see them.

Not rocket science is it?

No, and apparently you are not acquainted with aeronautical science. For stability an aircraft needs to have the center of lift, where the wings attach to the fuselage, behind the center of mass. That forces wings to be further aft on the fuselage. Keep in mind the center of mass changes in flight as fuel is burned.

One of the reasons flying wings like the original YB-35 were so troublesome during their testing program was that because they were all wing there were many stability problems caused by having the center of mass and the aerodynamic center so close together. They were borderline unstable at a full fuel load and became less stable as fuel was burned off. This problem inherent in flying wings was eventually solved for the B-2, another Northrop flying wing design, with the use of digital flight controls that allowed the fast acting computer operated flight controls to stay ahead of the aerodynamic loads in a basically unstable design but at great expense. For an airliner this is not necessary.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

That’s like dropping your motorcycle in the parking lot because the asphalt was slick, grrr

How about when it is a really hot day, the pavement is soft and your bike's stand sinks into the goo until it tips over.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Japan is a crowded nation with space at a minimum-no room to literally swing a cat!

The solution is to only have half size planes at airports here…

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

The solution is to only have half size planes at airports here…

Half sized airplanes don't cross oceans non stop from North America, Europe or Australia. There are smaller international airports all around the world where planes bumping into each other are not a problem. John Wayne and San Diego Lindberg Field are two good examples.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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