Originally Posted by DELee

Hmm. Assuming max landing weight of a 767 at 350,000 lbs / ~160,000 kg, moving at just 1 meter/sec = 3.6 kph = 2.2 mph, instantaneous momentum is 160,000 kg-m/s (p = mv) and kinetic energy of this system is 80,000 J.(KE = 1/2 mv^2) or about 8% of the explosive power of a stick of dynamite.

Any screwup such as the broken tow bar embedding itself in the tarmac or dirt or vehicle/human would have a deleterious effect on the thing that stopped it.

Not a good idea.

David

Originally Posted by pseudoswede

Since it was between flights, I would guess it would be closer to operating minimum weight, so maybe around 240,000 lbs. with fuel and other stuff in the cabin/cargo hold. And it definitely looked like it was going faster than 2.2mph.

But yeah, letting it run out was probably the best course of action provided it wasn't going to interfere with any active taxi or runways. You also figure the mechanics would know how to operate the manual brakes on any airline they're certified to work on.