Baseball for the Thinking Fan

Login | Register | Feedback

btf_logo
You are here > Home > Baseball Newsstand > Baseball Primer Newsblog > Discussion
Baseball Primer Newsblog
— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand

Friday, March 14, 2008

Selig plane returns after problems

Cordon off the landing area...the R.Budd Flyer is coming in!

A private jet carrying Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and bound for his desert home in Scottsdale, Ariz., had to return to Mitchell International Airport on Wednesday night after a landing-gear door failed to work properly after takeoff.

H. Carl Mueller, a spokesman for Selig, said the plane took off around 5 p.m. Wednesday. According to the Mitchell airport log, the pilot notified the tower at approximately 5:35 p.m. that he had a problem.

Because the plane was carrying a great deal of fuel, the pilot asked to be given clearance to circle the airport to lighten the plane’s load.

At approximately 7:15 p.m., the plane landed safely, according to Patricia Rowe, an airport spokesman.

As a precaution, Mitchell airport officials sent emergency crews to the runway, but they were not needed.

Repoz Posted: March 14, 2008 at 07:44 AM | 19 comment(s)
  Related News: General

Reader Comments and Retorts

Go to end of page

Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

Page 1 of 1 pages
   1. Shooty Did Not Kill McGurk  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 07:08 AM (#2712584)
Sorry guys. I tried my best!
   2. Edmundo is Super Average Man  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 07:27 AM (#2712587)
At least this Mitchell report had a happy ending.
   3. Cooperstown Schtick  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 09:05 AM (#2712633)
I'm trying to figure out which sounds more ridiculous: the notion that, upon discovering there was a problem with the landing equipment, they decided they'd better land right away, or the fact that, when they realized they needed to unload some fuel, they flew in a circle over the airport for almost two hours instead of just going ahead and flying to Arizona.
   4. McCoy  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 09:13 AM (#2712637)
That is an extremely naive view on this. The landing gear probably failed to close properly so landing instead of a cross country trip is a good idea. Circling an airport burning fuel is a lot safer then saying "what the hell" and flying cross country to burn the fuel.
   5. AJM  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 09:24 AM (#2712644)
Why can't you fly if the landing gear door doesn't close?
   6. Dayton Moore is a Big Fat Idiot (AG#1F)  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 09:39 AM (#2712664)
Somehow I just assumed he traveled by going through portals in hell.
   7. Cooperstown Schtick  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 09:42 AM (#2712666)
That is an extremely naive view on this.

I didn't say there wasn't some crazy airplane logic to it. I was pointing out how silly it sounds.
   8. Pat Rapper's Delight  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 10:45 AM (#2712723)
Why can't you fly if the landing gear door doesn't close?

IANAP, but I do play a little M$ Flight Simulator.

If the landing gear doesn't retract, you'll have additional drag on the aircraft and your max airspeed will be lower so you don't overstress the components of the unretracted gear.

The story says the plane was carrying "a great deal of fuel," but perhaps not enough to safely arrive if the plane is burning more fuel (because of the increased drag) and flying slower than what was expected in the flight plan.

At least, that's my guess.
   9. The Ghost of Sox Fans Past  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 11:46 AM (#2712790)
This circling business drives me a little batty, too. In this sort of case, I'd think that they could fly at slower speed on a route that that would take them past a series of airports. When approaching each each airport, they choose to land or go on to the next one.

I remember the Jet Blue flight from SoCal (LAX?) a few years ago and had a nose wheel problem at takeoff. IIRC, they circled for hours and ultimately landed successfully with the nose gear scraping the ground. I figured, why not just fly to NY, their intended destination, and do the same thing there? If they landed OK (as they did) the passengers would be at their destination, rather than back in California and hours late.
   10. Shooty Did Not Kill McGurk  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 11:53 AM (#2712797)
I remember the Jet Blue flight from SoCal (LAX?) a few years ago and had a nose wheel problem at takeoff. IIRC, they circled for hours and ultimately landed successfully with the nose gear scraping the ground. I figured, why not just fly to NY, their intended destination, and do the same thing there? If they landed OK (as they did) the passengers would be at their destination, rather than back in California and hours late.

It's probably because, if something went wrong on route, the controller who cleared the flight would get torn a new one. Also, I'm not sure who has final authority over air traffic, but if I'm JFK, I sure as hell wouldn't want LAX knowingly sending me a potential emergency.
   11. 3Com Park  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 12:10 PM (#2712817)
Airport Control Tower to Plane: "I picked a hell of a week to give up steroids."
   12. Shooty Did Not Kill McGurk  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 12:13 PM (#2712821)
Airport Control Tower to Plane: "I picked a hell of a week to give up steroids."

Doesn't the ESPN fantasy football guru look and sound EXACTLY like the wacky air traffic controller from Airplane!? I just can't take what he says seriously. I just giggle whenever he pops up on tv.
   13. Dan Szymborski  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 12:22 PM (#2712834)
From my experience with MS Flight Simulator, not having the landing gear goes down results in a message that you crashed, with your entire plane sticking awkwardly into the ground in one piece at the point of contact.
   14. Exploring Leftist Conservatism since 2008 (ark..)  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 03:42 PM (#2712999)
I'm trying to figure out which sounds more ridiculous: the notion that, upon discovering there was a problem with the landing equipment, they decided they'd better land right away, or the fact that, when they realized they needed to unload some fuel, they flew in a circle over the airport for almost two hours instead of just going ahead and flying to Arizona.


Part of the problem with flying on to the destination airport is, what do you do if something else goes wrong? Making an emergency landing at an airport is a hell of a lot safer than trying to put down on a highway, a field, or some completely random stretch of ground.
   15. vortex of dissipation  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 03:48 PM (#2713006)
Perhaps the maintenance crew who would have the knowledge, parts, and tools to repair the problem was at the airport where the plane departed from, rather than the airport to where it was flying?

In any case, it's much safer to keep an aircraft with a problem in sight rather than having it go galavanting around the country.
   16. flournoy  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 04:35 PM (#2713045)
It's really not a good idea to go ahead with a potentially disastrous flight and figure that upon disaster, you'll just be able to clear an emergency landing at the nearest airport.
   17. Misirlou had a hedge back home in the suburbs  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 05:26 PM (#2713066)
IANAP, but I do play a little M$ Flight Simulator.

If the landing gear doesn't retract, you'll have additional drag on the aircraft and your max airspeed will be lower so you don't overstress the components of the unretracted gear.

The story says the plane was carrying "a great deal of fuel," but perhaps not enough to safely arrive if the plane is burning more fuel (because of the increased drag) and flying slower than what was expected in the flight plan.

At least, that's my guess.


That would correct. The landing gear doors probably have an overspeed limit of around 250 knots or less*, while cruising speed is over twice that. Couple that with the additional drag and they would have been lucky to get as far as KC, and what good does that do you?

Plus, it is very poor practice to continue a flight with a known major malfunction.

*and that upper limit is usually for short duration. I would imagine they were circling the airport at below 200 knots with the flaps down to reduce any further potential damage.
   18. DFA SILVA-clap-clap-clapclapclap, DFA SILVA-clap-c  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 05:28 PM (#2713067)
well the landing gear would probly be torn apart from the drag on a cross country flight where as burning fuel at low speed near by is a lot safer. making belly landings is not something a pilot ever wants to do.
   19. BeanoCook  Posted: March 14, 2008 at 06:10 PM (#2713080)
How about the owners of the aircraft have their hangar in Milwaukee so instead of flying a damaged plane to AZ and spending a fortune to house and repair it at another facility, keep it home. Of course, this reason in addition to the obvious safety issues and government regulation of aircraft.
Page 1 of 1 pages

You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.

 

<< Back to main

Support BBTF

donate

Thanks to
BarrysLazyBoy
for his generous support.

My Bookmarks

You must be logged in to view your Bookmarks.

Vivid Seats is a sports ticket broker, concert ticket broker and theater ticket broker offering the best baseball tickets like Yankees tickets, Cubs tickets, and Red Sox tickets, as well as Police reunion tour tickets and Jersey Boys tickets.

We have baseball tickets, the NFL schedule, college football tickets and Cowboys tickets. We have NBA tickets like Celtics tickets and Lakers tickets. Plus, buy concert tickets, Patriots tickets and Colts tickets. Also check out our MLB baseball schedule

Baseball Bats

JustGreatTickets.com provides the best value for Chicago Cubs Tickets, MLB tickets including Red Sox Tickets, Yankees Tickets, SF Giants Tickets, LA Dodgers Tickets, Cleveland Indians Tickets. Get the best concert tickets like Jonas Brothers tickets and more Chicago Tickets.

Concerts Theatre NFL Angels Dodgers MLB Celtics Theater NBA Tickets Venues NHL Lakers Tickets NFL Yankees NHL Phillies NBA Wicked Marlins MLB Concerts Cubs Mets Red Sox Wicked WWE Red Sox Mets Yankees Dodgers

Major League Baseball: All Star Game, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, LA Angels, Washington Nationals, Chicago White Sox, and the Chicago Cubs.

Find terrific deals on Yankees tickets for the new home, Cubs tickets for classic Wrigley, or Red Sox tickets for Fenway with OnlineSeats. We have seats for every baseball game, including Dodgers tickets.

Page rendered in 1.4751 seconds
82 querie(s) executed