Planes collide on tarmac at Melbourne Airport

[DGW]

The latest from @Melair:

 

[TheEmu]

Luckily it happened at the Airport and not while they were Flying High.
I keep telling them: Reversing Beepers!

 

[Batesy]

Friends of mine were on one of the flights (as per a FB post), will find out which one and provide any details if I can get em.

 

[Pleb Status]

Do the pilots get out and exchange insurance details?

 

[Hvr]

You know if they had trains to the airport then this taxiing incident might have been avoided.

 

[k_sheep]

No way..... Really?

Virgin are trained and specialized at hitting buildings, not other aircraft

I hate the "like" function, but this actually made me laugh out loud.

 

[Melburnian1]

The collision led to the cancellation of inbound JQ706, due back at MEL from HBA at 1240. Presumably this means another JQ return rotation due out of MEL this afternoon may also get the chop, although Saturday afternoons is not a peak travel time and hence if there are relatively lengthy turnarounds, JQ may be able to 'advance' departures from MEL until COB early on Sunday morning.

Unscheduled aircraft withdrawals must make life difficult for operations staff and timetablers. At a busier time such as Sunday afternoon it might mean some JQ passengers having to wait to be put on a QF aircraft if the latter also runs the same route and if it has spare seats.

Planned maintenance is a known factor; one assumes that QF and its baby JQ do not routinely build in an expectation that a plane will be in for unscheduled repairs. The capital cost of aircraft (and the operational cost of the staff who are rostered on them) is such that mitigates against having a 'spare' or three in case one plane breaks down (or as in this case is involved in a collision).

 

[smatho10]

Good photos of the incident in the smh article

Jetstar, Virgin planes in tarmac bingle at Melbourne Airport

 

[Hvr]

"In conservative terms, at the moment we are talking $2 to $3 million for both aircraft," he said.

Read more: Jetstar, Virgin planes in tarmac bingle at Melbourne Airport
​

That's a lot of money for a separation misjudgement.

 

[flyingfan]

That's a lot of money for a separation misjudgement.

Better such a misjudgment on the ground than in the air though...

 

[erkpod]

ABC news now reporting a Virgin aircraft has hit a Jetstar plane

With how un-commercial the ABC can be, I'm a little surprised they mentioned the names of the operators.

 

[Melburnian1]

The two planes would normally have to remain where they were until ATSB investigators had arrived and taken photos and measurements to use in a subsequent report.

 

[TheEmu]

Do the pilots get out and exchange insurance details?

Good question, actually: who gets to pay?

 

[Major]

Good question, actually: who gets to pay?

The tug driver

 

[Melburnian1]

While Wikipedia isn't always reliable or up to date, there's an interesting comment at the end about insurance for taxiing aircraft having often been 'discontinued':

Aviation insurance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The implication in this morning's media is that the Virgin plane was at fault. Of course, an ATSB investigation needs to confirm this.

 

[NM]

I note that the VA aircraft was being pushed back, so under the "control" of the tug operator rather than the pilots. Though the pilots would have looked left/right before requesting the tug operator to commence.

I also note the report that teh JQ aircraft had no passengers on-board, so I assume it was being delivered to the gate by a tug. If that is the case then there would not have been any pilots on-board either, just an engineer.

So one for the ground handling companies to sort out regarding responsibilities. Not sure I would want to be the tug drivers explaining this to the boss.

Looking at the photos of the damage, it looks like the rear edge of the VA 737 wing tip has sliced through the tail-cone of the JQ A320.

 

[TonyHancock]

With how un-commercial the ABC can be, I'm a little surprised they mentioned the names of the operators.

"Other airlines are available".

 

[TheEmu]

The tug driver

Garnish his wages at $20 a week?
He'd only have to keep working for another coupla-thousand years...

 

[TheEmu]

Most of that should buff out! :shock:

 

[whatmeworry]

Nothing that bog and duct tape can't fix!