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Video from a passenger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TKAPAo602w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TKAPAo602w

sillysaurusx 5y ago
Is there a longer video anywhere? I’m curious what it’s like from a passenger POV immediately following such an event. EDIT: Ohh. Never mind. The tail strike wasn’t the issue. The issue was the gigantic plane coming at them from the other end of the runway. So the passengers had no idea they all almost died. Kudos to the pilots for getting the plane airborne with nothing more than a tail strike. Something is off, though: the other plane was landing, not taking off. This plane was taking off. Why was there a tail strike to avoid the other plane? It would make sense if the other plane was already on the runway. Then you’d have to pull up as hard as possible, resulting in a tail strike. But in this case… Hmm. Maybe I’m thinking of it the wrong way. If the other plane is landing, your goal is still to “get above it”, as if it were on the runway. So maybe they realized what was happening and immediately made the plane go boing out of surprise. Also the debate is fascinating in the linked article’s comment section. Someone claimed that the photo was of a different aircraft, and somehow that kicked off a multi day discussion of paint patterns.
- mikeyouse 5y ago
  Nah, a Beech 350 is a 10-passenger prop plane. The video is from onboard the Jet Blue A320 which is a 150+ passenger commercial plane. The Jet Blue got into the air and out of the path of the Beech to avoid a mid-air collision (the Beech was on approach to land on the same runway).
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- jazzyjackson 5y ago
  > your goal is still to “get above it” Or just to get off the ground so you can get out of the way, can’t really turn until you’re airborne
  - sillysaurusx 5y ago
    Thanks! I feel a little sheepish not realizing the obvious... One other question that might have an obvious answer: how did the pilots become aware of the other plane? It would be interesting if it was due to radio comms. It implies that this was a shining example of multiple failsafes -- the other plane was coming in for a landing, had already reported that they were landing, but reported it again, and this pilot heard it went "Oh shit." It would be equally fascinating if the pilot saw the other plane out the window. It implies that if this had happened at night, everyone could have died.
    - MobiusHorizons 5y ago
      I think it would actually be easier to spot a plane at night due to the lights on the plane. I'm not sure how easy it is to determine how far away the plane is though.
      - nosianu 5y ago
        (Private) pilot here - relevant for this question only because I hung around airports and runways long enough, not for my piloting. You can see the light easily even during the day when they are flying towards you. It's like cars using their high beam lights - and looking at them on the same straight road from the opposite direction. You are directly in the main cone of where that light is focused. These days even bikes with their LED headlights on during the day can be quite annoying to people having to look straight at them on the same path even when they still are a hundred meters away. That light on the airplane, the landing light, is meant to illuminate the runway when landing - small airplanes may have to do a night landing on barely illuminated runways. I did some of those, you could only see the outline of the runway and everything else was a blackhole, the surroundings and the runway itself. The runway itself only became visible when I got within a few meters above it. I'm just saying this to show that those lights are not just decoration or position indicator but actually quite strong. It would be hard to miss that light in the sky (unless you take off towards the sun of course) when it's flying towards where you are and you look straight at it. Fortunately I only ever saw it from such a position waiting next to the runway, not standing right on it (now that would be a panic attack moment). Also, usually takeoff and landing use the same direction, into the wind, in both cases to reduce the amount of runway needed (speed in relation to ground is less than speed in relation to air in that case).
- justsomehnguy 5y ago
  > your goal is still to “get above it” Your goal is get out of way. On the runway you can't go lower, you can't maintain level (you never can be sure how far and how fast the incoming plane), you can't go to the side (rudders are an option but you need to be airborne and be sure you still have the time, see level) so your only option is to go up and then go to the side. > out of surprise Less of surprise, more of need to take an immediate action, again you can't judge the speed and distance of the airplane of unknown (and often even known) type. To see how hard it is search Youtube for aircraft carrier landings videos.
numpad0 5y ago
They have payWave readers in the seatback now!?
- robbedpeter 5y ago
  Monetized captivity seems to be a popular modern business model.

Is there a longer video anywhere? I’m curious what it’s like from a passenger POV immediately following such an event. EDIT: Ohh. Never mind. The tail strike wasn’t the issue. The issue was the gigantic plane coming at them from the other end of the runway. So the passengers had no idea they all almost died. Kudos to the pilots for getting the plane airborne with nothing more than a tail strike. Something is off, though: the other plane was landing, not taking off. This plane was taking off. Why was there a tail strike to avoid the other plane? It would make sense if the other plane was already on the runway. Then you’d have to pull up as hard as possible, resulting in a tail strike. But in this case… Hmm. Maybe I’m thinking of it the wrong way. If the other plane is landing, your goal is still to “get above it”, as if it were on the runway. So maybe they realized what was happening and immediately made the plane go boing out of surprise. Also the debate is fascinating in the linked article’s comment section. Someone claimed that the photo was of a different aircraft, and somehow that kicked off a multi day discussion of paint patterns.

mikeyouse 5y ago
Nah, a Beech 350 is a 10-passenger prop plane. The video is from onboard the Jet Blue A320 which is a 150+ passenger commercial plane. The Jet Blue got into the air and out of the path of the Beech to avoid a mid-air collision (the Beech was on approach to land on the same runway).
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
jazzyjackson 5y ago
> your goal is still to “get above it” Or just to get off the ground so you can get out of the way, can’t really turn until you’re airborne
- sillysaurusx 5y ago
  Thanks! I feel a little sheepish not realizing the obvious... One other question that might have an obvious answer: how did the pilots become aware of the other plane? It would be interesting if it was due to radio comms. It implies that this was a shining example of multiple failsafes -- the other plane was coming in for a landing, had already reported that they were landing, but reported it again, and this pilot heard it went "Oh shit." It would be equally fascinating if the pilot saw the other plane out the window. It implies that if this had happened at night, everyone could have died.
  - MobiusHorizons 5y ago
    I think it would actually be easier to spot a plane at night due to the lights on the plane. I'm not sure how easy it is to determine how far away the plane is though.
    - nosianu 5y ago
      (Private) pilot here - relevant for this question only because I hung around airports and runways long enough, not for my piloting. You can see the light easily even during the day when they are flying towards you. It's like cars using their high beam lights - and looking at them on the same straight road from the opposite direction. You are directly in the main cone of where that light is focused. These days even bikes with their LED headlights on during the day can be quite annoying to people having to look straight at them on the same path even when they still are a hundred meters away. That light on the airplane, the landing light, is meant to illuminate the runway when landing - small airplanes may have to do a night landing on barely illuminated runways. I did some of those, you could only see the outline of the runway and everything else was a blackhole, the surroundings and the runway itself. The runway itself only became visible when I got within a few meters above it. I'm just saying this to show that those lights are not just decoration or position indicator but actually quite strong. It would be hard to miss that light in the sky (unless you take off towards the sun of course) when it's flying towards where you are and you look straight at it. Fortunately I only ever saw it from such a position waiting next to the runway, not standing right on it (now that would be a panic attack moment). Also, usually takeoff and landing use the same direction, into the wind, in both cases to reduce the amount of runway needed (speed in relation to ground is less than speed in relation to air in that case).
justsomehnguy 5y ago
> your goal is still to “get above it” Your goal is get out of way. On the runway you can't go lower, you can't maintain level (you never can be sure how far and how fast the incoming plane), you can't go to the side (rudders are an option but you need to be airborne and be sure you still have the time, see level) so your only option is to go up and then go to the side. > out of surprise Less of surprise, more of need to take an immediate action, again you can't judge the speed and distance of the airplane of unknown (and often even known) type. To see how hard it is search Youtube for aircraft carrier landings videos.

numpad0 5y ago

They have payWave readers in the seatback now!?

robbedpeter 5y ago
Monetized captivity seems to be a popular modern business model.