FS98: a near collision
Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 1:26 pmFS2002-ATC (for in-flight ATC, from clearance delivery to passenger unload) and FSTraffic (for departure/arrival/airborne traffic) are two wonderful add-ons for FS98, but they have a problem: they don't communicate with each other!
Scenario: We are flying one of our standard Italink routes, from Bangor Intl. to New York JFK. It's about supper time. The tower at JFK has cleared us to land on runway 04R, visibility is dim (5 nm) but we are perfectly aligned with the runway, gear down, full flaps, 140 knots and at about 500 ft the runway becomes visible.
As we prepare for another regular touchdown, suddenly we feel a cold shiver down the spine: there is another aircraft just below us on the runway, rolling for takeoff!!!
It's too late for anything: we pray, as our front gear clears the other jet's tail no more than a few inches.
At this point I decide not to abort the landing, just out of curiosity really (in real life I would obviously had given full throttle and got the hell out of there!), sensing a great photo opportunity. I manage to touch down, reverse the thrust and extract the spoilers, and I start to brake as late as I can. Our faithful I-FRAN grinds to a halt a few meters before the end of the runway.
At this point we hear a roar over our head: the other jet, a Continental B737-800, has somehow managed to take off anyway, and is just flying over us...
There will be some head rolling on the floor tomorrow morning at JFK approach I guess.
Scenario: We are flying one of our standard Italink routes, from Bangor Intl. to New York JFK. It's about supper time. The tower at JFK has cleared us to land on runway 04R, visibility is dim (5 nm) but we are perfectly aligned with the runway, gear down, full flaps, 140 knots and at about 500 ft the runway becomes visible.
As we prepare for another regular touchdown, suddenly we feel a cold shiver down the spine: there is another aircraft just below us on the runway, rolling for takeoff!!!
It's too late for anything: we pray, as our front gear clears the other jet's tail no more than a few inches.
At this point I decide not to abort the landing, just out of curiosity really (in real life I would obviously had given full throttle and got the hell out of there!), sensing a great photo opportunity. I manage to touch down, reverse the thrust and extract the spoilers, and I start to brake as late as I can. Our faithful I-FRAN grinds to a halt a few meters before the end of the runway.
At this point we hear a roar over our head: the other jet, a Continental B737-800, has somehow managed to take off anyway, and is just flying over us...
There will be some head rolling on the floor tomorrow morning at JFK approach I guess.
