TWO AIRPLANES, TWO ACCIDENTS

摘要

Fifteen years later, I was headed to Pittsburgh (KPIT) in the left seat of a CJ3. The weather was OK -1,000 overcast, good visibility, light snow. The runway was reported as snow-covered, braking action good. Our onboard computer factored in the runway conditions and our Part 135 runway requirements. No sweat. The landing was smooth and the braking surprisingly effective. The taxi to the FBO was slow; we had to apply power to move the airplane across the contaminated ramp. An hour later, the big surprise came on takeoff. With both Type I and Type IV deicing fluid application, flaps-zero takeoff configuration and almost 2 inches of snow on Runway 28R, our required takeoff distance (factoring in an engine failure at a critical speed) approached 9,000 feet. The runway is 10,502 feet long, but breathtaking was the effect of the weather on our computed performance. With both FJ44-3As at takeoff thrust, we needed only a few thousand feet to get airborne, but I was forever impressed.