How pilots deal with emergency landings and save airplanes
The history of air transportation knows many cases when pilots are forced to land an airplane on a place not intended for this purpose due to an emergency. When large aircraft are forced to make emergency landings on surfaces other than runways, they are usually doomed to be written off.
Experts say that several factors need to be taken into account for an aircraft to take off from an emergency landing, including the condition of the aircraft and the surface of the runway. This is described in the article of Simple Flying.
The condition of the airplane remains the main factor that will prevent the airplane from leaving the emergency landing site. If the landing gear is extended, it can be damaged as the wheels roll over rocky or uneven terrain. Alternatively, the wheels can be retracted to allow the fuselage to "glide" better over uneven surfaces, but for low wing aircraft designs, the result will be engine damage.
Another obvious factor is the terrain. Even if the airframe, engines, and landing gear are not damaged during the landing, any surface with large enough bumps will certainly prevent the aircraft from gaining enough speed and lift to take off. The surface may also be too soft.
You should also consider the length of the runway. Even if the surface is smooth and level enough, it is unlikely that the surface extends far enough for the airplane to gain sufficient lift. Prevailing headwinds and tailwinds, as well as the weight of the aircraft, will need to be calculated to determine the minimum distance, but it is safe to say that in most cases there will not be enough "runway" to achieve the proper speed to generate lift.
Finally, the risk of foreign object debris on or near the runway surface should be considered in the planning. Without the well-controlled conditions that characterize a typical commercial airport, aircraft engines can ingest this debris, resulting in damage during a critical phase of operation.
At the same time, there are many cases of airplanes taking off from imperfect surfaces. Typically, these cases involve smaller general aviation aircraft or larger military aircraft designed to operate in less than ideal conditions.
At the same time, when it comes to commercial jets, there are special modifications that can be made for certain aircraft. A popular example comes from North Canadian carriers such as Nolinor. For projects in remote areas, the airline's 737-200s can be equipped to land on unpaved, gravel, or icy runways.
Ultimately, all of the above examples refer to unpaved runways. Grass runways, on the other hand, are intended for light, small aircraft only, but they also carry their own set of risks.
It is worth recalling that in 1988, there was an incident with a TACA 737-300 aircraft when the plane suffered a double engine fire and landed on a dam. The landing was successfully completed on the grass strip of the dam. The aircraft sustained minimal damage during the landing, but the site was still unsuitable for takeoff. Subsequently, it was decided that the aircraft could have its engines replaced and towed to the nearest takeoff site. The 737 was towed to Saturn Boulevard, which happened to be a World War II-era runway that had been repaved.
At the same time, when it comes to smaller jets, the 1983 case of a Gulfstream II that had to divert and make an emergency landing in Ireland comes to mind. The plane, which landed due to insufficient fuel, suffered minor wing damage after colliding with a fence post during landing, but was still ready to fly.
The pilot, Captain Ocaña, insisted that he would take off "as soon as the ground dries." Things didn't go exactly as planned, but the pilot and his crew took off in a private jet from a temporary 3,000-foot runway, staying in Mellow for almost 40 days.
It should be noted that different situations can happen to passengers during a flight. For example, one of the passengers was bothered by a mother who was rocking her child next to her. Read about it in TravelWise.
