Mesa slides off the taxiway in DSM

[vectorvictor]

Look at the pics...no harm...no foul...they deiced, get a wrecker to get this thing back on the taxiway, spread some sand over the icy spot and move on people.

It was snowing like the north pole in a CBS Chirstmas special. This could have happened to anyone of us.

VV

 

[Flash]

Anybody else find it interesting that the 3 planes that slid off the runways today were all regionals?? Experience counts. Of the 2 planes that slid off in DSM, which one occured first, PNCL or MESA?

I'd look at the other side of this as 2 podunk type airports that might not have a fleet of plows/sanders that a larger airport might have. And seeing that mainline type really don't go into these airports then who's left to go off the taxiway?

 

[FORESTGUMP]

Are the pasenger windows a critical item for deicing? Are you telling me that if there was a very thin layer of snow on your aircraft that you would hose the entire aircraft down instead of just doing the critical surfaces? Do you do much deicing? Having worked at Mesa for 7 years I can tell you with absolute certainly that NOBODY has ever told a PIC not to de-ice an aircraft. They use the same standards as any other airline. While there, I was never even told how much it costs to de-ice. There is a very good reason for this. Mesa like other commuter's pass this cost on to the airline that they contract for. If you work for a commuter you should already know this. If I was the Captain and there was a thin layer of wind blown snow/ice on the passenger windows I would not de-ice the non critical surfaces not because it saves money but because it is very wasteful. That stuff cannot be good for the ground water and is petroleum based which comes with its own complications. Mesa may suck and suck bad but when it comes to safety I give them an A. There are PLENTY of things to pick at Mesa about. Sliding off a taxiway is not one of them. Just glad nobody was hurt.

Its standard practice at ASA. According to our POH, the top of the fuselage is a critical surface...

 

[PeanuckleCRJ]

For what it's worth, an NWA whale ran off as well.

 

[TOOL CRIB]

For what it's worth, an NWA whale ran off as well.

Hey now, easy on the flight attendant jokes there!

 

[Checknsix]

A buddy of mine, a previous, well thought of captain at Air Whiskey, put one of the end of a runway on ice in KC a couple of years ago.

He said was slowed down to a crawl, when trying to make the last turnoff. Idle thrust on both engines was enough to sent him on a dirt trip. In end, the FAA went after the airport manager for not keeping the runway/taxiway clean. 3 airplanes went off in the same spot in the course of a few days.

My buddy said, in retrospect, he would have put the engines in reverse , given a second chance....even though it is not in the book.

Be careful out there.
- Six

 

[UnstableAviator]

My buddy said, in retrospect, he would have put the engines in reverse , given a second chance....even though it is not in the book.


- Six

He's undoubtedly better off since he didn't. Otherwise, he would have taken all the blame instead of the facility manager.

 

[Cloudroller]

I know! 250 hour pilots are equal to experienced 3000 hour pilots. Thanks for clearing that up!

Maybe you should talk to the Express Jet guys who rolled one off the end of a runway. Or look up the history of their FTD

 

[fried chickens]

I was in DSM yesterday after they reopen the airport. I was told Mesa went off the taxi way because the winds were so strong and a gust of wind hit them and because of the icy taxi way they just weather vaned and slid off. A NWA mainline taxing right behind them almost did the same thing but either because they're more experience or because they were right behind mesa when they were able to power themselves out of the slide. Just what I heard in DSM last night.

 

[Bruno82]

I was there. We were being deiced at the time. We heard the airport was closed on ground freq.