Suvarnabhumi Airport Runway Crisis Deepens

[Babcock]

I told it before: it's not the bad compaction of the reclaimed land; it's the sub-standard quality of the sand (too silty) that causes the problem. The drainage capacity of this sand is too low and compaction pressure by heavy sudden loads (be it a compactor or an aircraft) is taken by the water particles, not the soil grains, with all the consequences.

May I suggets that the certificates of soil-aptness be checked (which were issued during the Thaksin I and II government by crooked soil laboratories working for TRT nominees) be thoroughly checked and these particular "substandard" soils be identified where they were used for reclaiming the swamp with 4 meters... (something which unfortunately is no longer possible). Remarkable and coincidently the sand was coming from borrow pits, all belonging to TRT MP's and Thaksin cronies. This "sandy soil" was bought at an incredible price... And that's why this Suvarnabhumi airport has costed three times its normal price. No one can put the link anymore with the actual problems in the runway but these problems will continue to exist for many more years to come. This will NEVER be a good runway if the 4 meters reclaimed sand was sub-standard, which becomes more an more clear now. Corruption and greed, the two most known characteristics of the Thaksin era... are now costing its toll. And this man still runs free...

You might want to look at Wikipedia

Because they claim that when tests were carried out earlier on the composition of the runways after cracks had appeared back in 2006 they claim that the materials found were of the correct materials.

Overall the airport was found to have a 1% failure rate which is negligible

However a figure of 30% graft in an earlier posters blog is about the going rate and doesn't surprise me.

Even the last government

Sought more than that for the Bts extensions.

Then we have king power etc etc and the gangs that divide up the turf

[KeyserSoze01]

So much rubbish posted in response to this story. The problem of cracking and stripping (where the bitumen comes away from the concrete below) is common. The issue here is the maintenance schedule. The sky is not falling. It is not the end of the world. Once the maintenance schedule is sorted everything will be fine. It is normal to have runways closed for resurfacing and repair work. I believe Sydney airport had a runway closed for nearly a year with maintenance and repair works taking place.

My understanding from posts from the other paper that they have found an area 60cm square sunk 5 cm.

I mean if that's true this story's a joke.

Quite true. We don't know if they are dealing with a mountain or a mole hill. One would think that if the sinkhole were only 5cm, then it wouldn't interest the press enough to publish an article.

EDIT: This is from the OP

AOT closed the west runway from 8.30-9.30pm on Thursday night for repairs after two sinkholes were found. One was 60cm wide, 60cm long and 5cm deep. Eleven flights were affected, seven of them Thai Airways International (THAI) flights, which were forced to delay their landings. Four other flights were diverted to U-tapao, Don Mueang and Chiang Mai airports during the closure.

Edited July 7, 2012 by KeyserSoze01

[abq2020]

How can 200+ in 2011 and 55+ year to date in 2012 repairs to runways requiring closures be termed "normal?"

I recollect that there was quite a controversy regarding runways problems (majorcracks, sinking, etc.) way back before the airport opened. I cannot remember if it was The Nation or Bangkok Post; however, one or the other did a great series of articles outlining the problems and possible corruption associated with the contracts and original runway construction work. Welcome to Thailand.

[BillyBobThai]

That picture of Eva Air with collapsed nose is while the plane was stationary. Now picture the main gear in

a sink hole at 120 knots.

[BillyBobThai]

My next door neighbor in the 50's and 60's was a soils engineer with the Corp of Eng. in the U.S.

He spent over 2 years here in Thailand overseeing the building of the US built airports here.

It seems he did good work. With the correct foundation, you can build most anything anywhere.

The problem here in Thailand, is allowing the monkeys to be in charge of the building process.

Projects such as these should only be built by reliable outside contractors, and only turned over to the government when finished and certified. God help us if they ever build a nuclear power station.

[GentlemanJim]

My next door neighbor in the 50's and 60's was a soils engineer with the Corp of Eng. in the U.S.

He spent over 2 years here in Thailand overseeing the building of the US built airports here.

It seems he did good work. With the correct foundation, you can build most anything anywhere.

The problem here in Thailand, is allowing the monkeys to be in charge of the building process.

Projects such as these should only be built by reliable outside contractors, and only turned over to the government when finished and certified. God help us if they ever build a nuclear power station.

You see the problem is Billy that we all stick to our areas of expertise! I was a pilot for 25 years and we never gave a flying <snip> to the soil and sub-strata at an airfield, we simply trusted that if it was there, we can land on it. The issue with swampy that becomes blindingly obvious to me 'NOW' is that safety procedures have not been adhered to and there is a possibility that swampy is compromised. As a pilot that would have me thinking. The more the news is circulated, the more the concerns will be in the aviation world. I have a mate with Emirates as a Captain on the 380 that already has reservations. Time will tell.

Edited July 8, 2012 by metisdead

[hellodolly]

MEL 1

The sub-surface will get worse, if water dispersion continues. The sub-waters are actually an asset at the moment, as they hold the supporting the supporting materials, and in this case a lot of sand. Once the waters start to disperse that's when the supporting materials develeop major holes, and holes in them disappear. This is all a normal part of subsidence. It's not a normal function to use limestone and sand as supporting matter for an airport runway, on a swamp. The virginal pressures of when built, to now, will have been dispersed and we are just seeing the initial results of that over the last years. There is the propensity for sinkholes the size of football fields and 40m deep to occur at any time if a large water dispersion occurs. You only have to look at the major sinkholes that have occured in Florida, with houses and pools disappearing, in one case a sink hole 100m deep occured and took a building block to get an idea.

-mel.

Or it could be a bitumen surface problem.

Well I agree what you say has some merit. How ever is not the whole area (Bangkok) sinking to below the sea level and would not each little bit of sinking make the chances of the water leaving the area and creating huge sink holes less likely to happen.

With my experience in road building I would not have even attempted to build a airport of that size there as there is no way of getting proper compaction on a area that big.

But the one thing I did learn was that engineers had ways to work around some difficulties that would not occur to the normal person.

Don't get me wrong I have had my differences of opinion with them and been right on occasion but not all the time.

Just found this very short interesting study, which also mentions BKK.

http://wwwrcamnl.wr....rs/Chapter1.pdf

-mel.

Yes it is interesting but it is also huistiry1977. As I said Engineers know things that we don't. For instance I was working on a hotel that was on a lake. The ground had been preloaded for a year.

They had drilled casings down for footing supports and gone ahead and built the building. It was a little higher than a smaller building about ten feet away. The entrance seemed to be about 10 inches higher than the other building with a adjoining ramp. I asked a engineer why the difference in elevations and he told me that the big one was going to sink 8 inches. I asked another engineer not associated with that particular building and he told me it was common to make allowances for settling.

As I see it there could be things we don't know about. Was the airport built when there was a lot of water in the ground. I don't know. I would imagine not if it was built in the dry season. Who really knows. Time will tell. I was thinking that with the ocean rising there would be less water seeping out eventually it will be going the other way, Or maybe they should have let it flood for a longer life span. That is a tongue in cheek joke.

[Babcock]

How can 200+ in 2011 and 55+ year to date in 2012 repairs to runways requiring closures be termed "normal?"

I recollect that there was quite a controversy regarding runways problems (majorcracks, sinking, etc.) way back before the airport opened. I cannot remember if it was The Nation or Bangkok Post; however, one or the other did a great series of articles outlining the problems and possible corruption associated with the contracts and original runway construction work. Welcome to Thailand.

The nation

And they were forced to retract their story a year later and apologize for false reporting.

And after the democrats had delayed the opening of the airport for 1 whole year but by then it didn't matter because there had been a coup and the army general who took over the airport his first decision was to sack the bod and his second to award his regiment $5000000 from the coffers of the airport.

He then ran the airport into the ground, didn't claim rent from Kingpower for 1 year (loyal supporters) and refused to make repairs to the airport runway as

Did the junta leader as they hoped a failure at the airport would reflect badly on pm thaksin who could be scapegoated for any failure.

A bit like what is going on here I would wager.

Again it's on Wikipedia and other external media outlets.

[Babcock]

So much rubbish posted in response to this story. The problem of cracking and stripping (where the bitumen comes away from the concrete below) is common. The issue here is the maintenance schedule. The sky is not falling. It is not the end of the world. Once the maintenance schedule is sorted everything will be fine. It is normal to have runways closed for resurfacing and repair work. I believe Sydney airport had a runway closed for nearly a year with maintenance and repair works taking place.

My understanding from posts from the other paper that they have found an area 60cm square sunk 5 cm.

I mean if that's true this story's a joke.

Quite true. We don't know if they are dealing with a mountain or a mole hill. One would think that if the sinkhole were only 5cm, then it wouldn't interest the press enough to publish an article.

EDIT: This is from the OP

AOT closed the west runway from 8.30-9.30pm on Thursday night for repairs after two sinkholes were found. One was 60cm wide, 60cm long and 5cm deep. Eleven flights were affected, seven of them Thai Airways International (THAI) flights, which were forced to delay their landings. Four other flights were diverted to U-tapao, Don Mueang and Chiang Mai airports during the closure.

I get it but if only it was the thaksin camp you had to be afraid of, that they truly were apart from the population whose nature would never consider any forms of corruption and that this newspaper, the nation, only ever acted out of a sense of civic good...

I tend towards the c-ck-up conspiracy rather than.

[rubl]

If some readers wonder what the Suvarnabhumi Airport Runway cracks have to do with k. Thaksin, they can only be excused as many here may wonder. I guess with K. Thaksin having been instrumental in pushing forward the opening of the new airport (and suing all and sunder who'd dare to report anything negative), it's only natural for some to discuss and report on 'mishaps'

[Yunla]

If some readers wonder what the Suvarnabhumi Airport Runway cracks have to do with k. Thaksin, they can only be excused as many here may wonder. I guess with K. Thaksin having been instrumental in pushing forward the opening of the new airport (and suing all and sunder who'd dare to report anything negative), it's only natural for some to discuss and report on 'mishaps'

It is his administration's propensity for giving business contracts and government funding to businesses allied to his own family, rather than giving those contracts to the most reliable and able companies, which takes on an extra sinister twist when it applies to airport runways.

Edited July 7, 2012 by Yunla

[kerrysum]

Thanks to you all Senior members for your remarks.....

This Airport has been a problem since its' inception.... But I guess that is the way it works....

Where are the standards?

Amazingly enough my wife was on a flight, this very same night.... Her flight was no where to be found on all of sites I checked... So I did wonder...

That is when I came here... Finally my wife called, and yes I had the answer.... They circled around the airport for an hour.... they were told that the runways were so busy, that they could not land......

Don Muang Airport? I love you....

Just my opinion.....

Kerry

[Moruya]

So much rubbish posted in response to this story. The problem of cracking and stripping (where the bitumen comes away from the concrete below) is common. The issue here is the maintenance schedule. The sky is not falling. It is not the end of the world. Once the maintenance schedule is sorted everything will be fine. It is normal to have runways closed for resurfacing and repair work. I believe Sydney airport had a runway closed for nearly a year with maintenance and repair works taking place.

My understanding from posts from the other paper that they have found an area 60cm square sunk 5 cm.

I mean if that's true this story's a joke.

If the Thais are worried, so should we be.

[Reasonableman]

So much rubbish posted in response to this story. The problem of cracking and stripping (where the bitumen comes away from the concrete below) is common. The issue here is the maintenance schedule. The sky is not falling. It is not the end of the world. Once the maintenance schedule is sorted everything will be fine. It is normal to have runways closed for resurfacing and repair work. I believe Sydney airport had a runway closed for nearly a year with maintenance and repair works taking place.

My understanding from posts from the other paper that they have found an area 60cm square sunk 5 cm.

I mean if that's true this story's a joke.

"The west runway was closed for repairs 209 times last year, and has been closed 55 times since the beginning of 2012. The east runway has been closed 66 times. Every shutdown is for a different length of time. Mostly, repairs were needed to existing cracks," Somchai said.

Hahahahah! Good one!! 5555

[Skywalker69]

good thing Don Meuang openned again...looks like we all may be headed back there

Until the next flood, that is. Edited July 8, 2012 by Skywalker69

[tartempion]

Agreed. What will happen if "Swampy" looses the standard of an International Airport. Back to DM then?

Why do you think they are so eager to re-open DM for international flights?

[Skywalker69]

... a degreed civil engineer here... structural ... don't know it all, but do know a good bit about the subject.

... without inspecting the damages, we can only speculate on causes of the Suvarnabhumi runway failures ... but, this does not sound favorable for the AOT and Thailand's reputation as a nation capable of achieving international standards.

... a few observations ... basics:

• Concrete does not flex well... it is designed to sustain tremendous compression loads, so dropping a fully loaded A380 at 200 knots onto its surface is no problem for properly designed and constructed concrete runways; however,
  
• When subject to significant flexural (bending) loads, concrete fractures ... rather easily, actually ... concrete failure is not a slow, plastic bending, but a sharp dramatic failure ... the steel reinforcing bars embedded in the concrete is placed there to sustain the bending loads, called 'moment loads', that concrete cannot resist.
  

... what is described in the article above is a 60cm x 60cm section subsiding 5cm ... it sounds as a "punching" failure ... this is not the slow subsiding we are witnessing throughout Thailand ... the article does not describe a smooth flexing, which concrete cannot do, as with pliant materials (wood, metal, plastic, etc.) ... the article describes a concrete slab that cracked, separated and dropped 5cm below the level of the surfaces around it ... nothing about this form of concrete "punching" failure (if that is what this is) is normal ... it is not maintenance related ... it would be a dramatic structural failure.

... but a runway failure of this type should not be misconstrued as the problem ... it is not ... the runway failure as this is a symptom of a much greater problem ... the symptom could be caused by a couple of most likely sources:

• The higher probability is that inferior foundations are the most likely symptom of the problem ... no matter how competently the runway slab is designed and built, it is predicated on having a firm foundation ... a failed foundation almost invariably results in failed structures that sit upon them ... because the compacted substrate, subsoil drainage system and pilings (which I presume they used in a swamp) cannot be 100% tested (only sampled), there is a huge exposure here;
  
• Less likely is an inferior runway slab itself ... slab design is fairly straight-forward ... very well-developed, proved construction technology, materials and design standards ... the key is the foundation.
  

... the greater problem of a runway failure as this, as opposed to the symptoms of the problem, could in my view include the following, in order of likelihood:

• Most likely, is inferior quality construction practices ... not installing materials in conformance to the design... this could be simple gross mismanagement, which I've heard is not so unheard of here in Thailand ('mai pen rai' ... 'do just enough'... 'aww, you tink too mutt') ... or, if a Thai contractor did have larceny in him, relatively few co-conspiritors would have to be recruited to get away with taking inferior short cuts ... this is particularly possible when a great deal of work is done in the cool of the night, as was I believe the case here;
  
• A bit less likely, is inferior construction materials ... low-strength concrete, or low-strength reinforcing steel ... in an environment of corruption and incompetence, substituting inferior construction materials is a distinct possibility ... however, the safety factors applied in the design of structures (to international design standards) are quite forgiving ... if inferior materials were substituted, they would be substituted to massive degrees to cause a failure as this;
  
• Least likely, is inferior design ... engineers in Thailand are personally liable (civilly and criminally) for damages and deaths caused by the failures of structures they design ... to protect themselves, Thai engineers are understandably notorious for overdesigning structures to account for the corrupt building practices indemic in Thailand ... and, as mentioned above, international design standards include significant factors of safety that will forgive a measure of inferior construction practices and materials.
  

... but, going back to the top, if this runway failure is as described in the article (a 'punching' failure), this failure could well be the harbinger of a chronic decay of the runway, now underway ... unlikely that it is an isolated failure, but representative of how the entire runway was constructed.

... open 6 years now, major deficiencies at Suvarnabhumi Airport continue to mount ... these are not the isolated sort of corrections expected at the opening of new projects ... these are deeply flawed, fundamental systems deficiencies reflective of a broader mentality ... that is a concern.

... the Thai government is trying to remedially correct them, which is always inferior to doing them correctly in the first place ... leaky roof ... insufficient air-conditioning ... fire safety violations ... too few bathrooms ... radar and air traffic control system failures ... back-up power system failures ... spalling runway concrete ... insufficiently drained, highly expansive subsoils ... under-designed passenger capacity ... forget the ongoing operational problems, this is just the hardware.

... the world's latest technology, most experienced consultants and best contractors and suppliers were available to Thailand in launching it's greatest public infrastructure achievement to date ... Thailand's front door and calling card to the world is suffering signs of obsolesence ... it is 5-1/2 years old.

... anything anyone needs to know about this nation, doing business or living here, is neatly packaged in the story of the building of Thailand's Suvarnabhumi International Airport ... a remarkable story, truly.

As a degreed civil engineer, why have you not gone into detail about subsidence, the causes of it - re building on swamp land, the dispersion of water from the supporting sub-strates (sand and limestone in this case), the causes of air pockets and sub-support ground failure when the water which supports those substrates is dispersed, tapped, drained, and so on as the list goes on.

I was hoping for some asertions from a 'civil' engineer to some of my previous posts and statements, which I sourced from general knowledge, and even quoted an internet source.

Would you care to go into detail about the subsidence happening below the concrete slabs, as I think most don't have a problem with the runway surface construction.

-mel.

Mel

Lets be fair, the post by swillowbee is quite awesome and full of excellent information. If he types like me it probably took 25 mins and a cup of coffee. The additional info you want would be great but give the guy a chance, only so many hours in the day eh!

I like you understand that the geology is the issue, What swampy does not want is very wet rainy seasons followed by prolonged periods of heat and drought. The subsequent fall in the level of the water table and the accompanied 'shrinkage' are the conditions that could see gaping holes appear, but in the nature that swillowbee describes, sudden, violent and dramatic, and enough to ruin your day if you are in the stages of a take off run or landing.

To give you an idea of how dramatic and sudden these things occur when the wrong geology is in place, check out the mother below that opened in Guatemala after a tropical storm!!! Photoshop not involved!

Wow. But I don´t se the PTP Government down there.

[Yunla]

Wow. But I don´t se the PTP Government down there.

That giant gaping hole is what they modelled their party manifesto on.

[Lite Beer]

AOT: West runway of Suvarnabhumi Airport now operational

BANGKOK, 8 July 2012 (NNT) - The operator of Suvarnabhumi Airport has confirmed that the recently-repaired west runway has been reopened for service.

Airports of Thailand (AOT) President Flying Officer Anirut Thanomkulbutra said on Saturday that the damage found on the 19R runway on the west side of Suvarnabhumi Airport, identified on July 5th, was not the sinking of the runway surface but only the worn-out Tarmac.

After the refill of asphalt, the runways has been opened for use again.

Mr. Anirut said that the AOT has been inspecting the runway surface on an every-other-day basis and any damage will be promptly fixed.

He stated that while the repair service is being performed, all airport officials are to make sure that the safety of all flights and passengers will always be on top of the list.

Meanwhile, 42 percent of the repair works on runways in the east and the north has been achieved, with parts of the surface scheduled to be opened for use on July 18th, while all works will be completed by August 2nd, according to the AOT President

-- NNT 2012-07-08

[Reasonableman]

Perhaps they may care to look below the surface, as well. There's only so much patching up that can be done if the foundation is substandard. Take a look at the roads... a patchwork of patches in many places, especially after the floods. In some places major repairs as well as resurfacing have been needed and carried out, by all reports. Let's hope they do a thorough job, and if there are any deeper problems with the runways, that they be investigated and addressed. Lives, and Thailand's image overseas (and tourist income) could all be at risk.

[Moruya]

Perhaps they may care to look below the surface, as well. There's only so much patching up that can be done if the foundation is substandard. Take a look at the roads... a patchwork of patches in many places, especially after the floods. In some places major repairs as well as resurfacing have been needed and carried out, by all reports. Let's hope they do a thorough job, and if there are any deeper problems with the runways, that they be investigated and addressed. Lives, and Thailand's image overseas (and tourist income) could all be at risk.

Indeed. The problem is that every Thai with a bucket believes they are experts in pouring concrete.

My pool is not even 1 year old and has just been redone. Likewise the patio has collapsed.

[rakman]

Dumb question. I'm a geek not an engineer. Thank you for your explanation swillowbee. What would be worst case scenario? Possible bumpy landing or possible disastrous and fatal landing? Also, is it only landing - as in could taxi or take off be a problem? Told you it was a dumb question, but I have no knowledge in this area.

Just curious, it's not going to stop me regularly flying in and out of Swampy.

Yet.

I guess we all know what it feels like to hit a 5cm kerb at 5km/h and at 50km/h in a one tonne car

I don't know what the landing weight of a 747, 777 or A380 is - maybe 150 tonnes??

The landing speed must be arount 180 - 200 km/h

My guess is that the plane could take it - however there may be some people out there with a better understanding of the tolerance of such aircraft

For the record,

747-400ER Max TO weight: 412,770kg; Max Landing Weight: 295,743kg; Landing speed: 157 knots; 290 km/hr

777-300ER Max TO weight: 351,535kg; Max Landing Weight: 251,290kg; Landing speed: 149 knots; 276 km/hr

A380-800 Max TO weight: 560,000kg; Max Landing Weight: 386,000kg; Landing speed: 145 knots; 268 km/hr

Usually landing weights would be less due to fuel consumption, unless a problem occurred on take off, then it's fuel dump or burn off until the desired weight is achieved.

2"deep x 24" x 24" (5 cm deep x 60 cm x 60 cm) dip on the runway might leave a mark if hit at landing speed, certainly would be uncomfortable.

[NanLaew]

My next door neighbor in the 50's and 60's was a soils engineer with the Corp of Eng. in the U.S.

He spent over 2 years here in Thailand overseeing the building of the US built airports here.

It seems he did good work. With the correct foundation, you can build most anything anywhere.

The problem here in Thailand, is allowing the monkeys to be in charge of the building process.

Projects such as these should only be built by reliable outside contractors, and only turned over to the government when finished and certified. God help us if they ever build a nuclear power station.

Monkeys?

Is that your terminology or is your neighbor also a redneck?

[philw]

So much rubbish posted in response to this story. The problem of cracking and stripping (where the bitumen comes away from the concrete below) is common. The issue here is the maintenance schedule. The sky is not falling. It is not the end of the world. Once the maintenance schedule is sorted everything will be fine. It is normal to have runways closed for resurfacing and repair work. I believe Sydney airport had a runway closed for nearly a year with maintenance and repair works taking place.

My understanding from posts from the other paper that they have found an area 60cm square sunk 5 cm.

I mean if that's true this story's a joke.

If the Thais are worried, so should we be.

An area 60cm squared is exactly twice the size of my lenovo laptop................................

How big is a runway in cm2 ???

And it's Thaksins, Yinglucks, the Governments fault..................

Pathetic.

[NanLaew]

KUL looks better every day and in every way.

Yeah.... but the commute is bit of a bugger. Even with an early arrival, hand-carry only, a VIP pass and a slick taxi, there's just no no way you will make it to the low-end of Sukhumvit for a beer before it closes.

[Reasonableman]

#114

Is the size of your laptop significant somehow? Are you perjaps an electronics engineer, rather than a structural or civil engineer? No problem i guess in laptopland, but it may be an issue for a plane full of people landing at 290kph.

Edited July 8, 2012 by Reasonableman

[philw]

#114

Is the size of your laptop significant somehow? Are you perjaps an electronics engineer, rather than a structural or civil engineer? No problem i guess in laptopland, but it may be an issue for a plane full of people landing at 290kph.

Read the rest of the story.

The problem was small and is now fixed.

With regard to your final sentence, so might a small bird..................

Your juvenile reference to "laptopland" is just that, juvenile.

[ginjag]

I'ts PATHETIC that 2 or 3 of you are still in denial, and cannot get your heads around the truth of this said airport was built with substandard materials, substandard companies, and a substandard greedy P.M. and family/friends of pocketing the vast rakeoffs. One poster had the gall to say that blaming Thaksin was wrong. YOU ARE PATHETIC.

[Moruya]

Dumb question. I'm a geek not an engineer. Thank you for your explanation swillowbee. What would be worst case scenario? Possible bumpy landing or possible disastrous and fatal landing? Also, is it only landing - as in could taxi or take off be a problem? Told you it was a dumb question, but I have no knowledge in this area.

Just curious, it's not going to stop me regularly flying in and out of Swampy.

Yet.

I guess we all know what it feels like to hit a 5cm kerb at 5km/h and at 50km/h in a one tonne car

I don't know what the landing weight of a 747, 777 or A380 is - maybe 150 tonnes??

The landing speed must be arount 180 - 200 km/h

My guess is that the plane could take it - however there may be some people out there with a better understanding of the tolerance of such aircraft

For the record,

747-400ER Max TO weight: 412,770kg; Max Landing Weight: 295,743kg; Landing speed: 157 knots; 290 km/hr

777-300ER Max TO weight: 351,535kg; Max Landing Weight: 251,290kg; Landing speed: 149 knots; 276 km/hr

A380-800 Max TO weight: 560,000kg; Max Landing Weight: 386,000kg; Landing speed: 145 knots; 268 km/hr

Usually landing weights would be less due to fuel consumption, unless a problem occurred on take off, then it's fuel dump or burn off until the desired weight is achieved.

2"deep x 24" x 24" (5 cm deep x 60 cm x 60 cm) dip on the runway might leave a mark if hit at landing speed, certainly would be uncomfortable.

So at worst it could blow one of the several tyres on the landing gear?

[Reasonableman]

#114

Is the size of your laptop significant somehow? Are you perjaps an electronics engineer, rather than a structural or civil engineer? No problem i guess in laptopland, but it may be an issue for a plane full of people landing at 290kph.

Read the rest of the story.

The problem was small and is now fixed.

With regard to your final sentence, so might a small bird..................

Your juvenile reference to "laptopland" is just that, juvenile.

"The west runway was closed for repairs 209 times last year, and has been closed 55 times since the beginning of 2012. The east runway has been closed 66 times. Every shutdown is for a different length of time. Mostly, repairs were needed to existing cracks," Somchai said.

State of denial: a phrase used to describe someone who refuses to accept the truth (denial).

Edited July 8, 2012 by Reasonableman