On a recent AA Super 80 flight DFW - ONT I was greatly surprised when the pilot reversed the plane from the gate under its own steam. This is the first time I can remember this happening in the 12 years I've been flying. Is this a standard procedure?

On the flight into DFW, the helpful attendant was giving out departure gate numbers, one of them being the city (ONT) that we were just arriving from :-)

It's my impression (at least on Delta) that they give out the gate numbers for cities that ticketed passengers are travelling on to. (That may be wrong). Perhaps someone just likes to fly so much they thought they'd take a little round trip. Mind you, it's a bit early to be worrying about making status on segments

Northwest backs out under their own power quite a bit at MSP. At least they did beginning of last year.

With regard to "backing out" from a gate -- certain types of planes can do this, but it is not generally recommended, as you might blow dirt and debris toward the jet intakes.

With regard to quick turnarounds -- a few months ago on a trip to Panama, I sat next to a fellow who was transporting a gear. Apparently, the company he worked for had a mine in Panama, and for the sake of this gear, the entire operation was shut down. (The thing was slightly larger than a pack of cigarettes.) His company did not trust the couriers, so after tracking down a replacement part in PHL, they set up a relay/tag team of 4 employess. Each simply got on the plane, hand carrying the gear to the next airport, got off at the other end, did a hand-off to the next employee, then got back on the same plane to go home. (OK, I know the plane might have been continuing on somewhere else, but you get the idea. The plane in Panama was just turning around, however.)

The fellow, a Mexican gent, an manager in the Houston office, was drafted for the MIA-PTY flight, has he just happened to be in the MIA office that day. He was quite bemused by the whole deal, and was certainly enjoying himself. It seemed like quite a lark.

Regards,

Ken Hamer

I've been on board a number of times when they've done the reverse-thrust back out. Like Baze said about Northwest at MSP, they also do it in MEM. Plus, CO's partner, Air Micronesia used to do it a lot out of HNL.

Which got me to thinking about something...every time the pilots do this, they go *forward* just the tiniest little bit before engaging reverse thrust and backing out. I'm sure there's a reason, probably mechanical, why they do (have to do) this, but what is it?

Any FT'ers have an answer?

Speculation:

The brakes may not be designed to be applied with reverse thrust engaged. Therefore, if you release the brakes before the thrust reversers go on, the aircraft first creeps forward a little in the process.

But I'm sure someone will know for sure.

(Dupe post!)

[This message has been edited by RichG (edited 10-01-1999).]

Reverse-thrust backing was a common sight back in the days when Eastern had its hub in Atlanta (and the midfield terminals were designed for this purpose). Unfortunately, if you don't pay attention to what's going on, any debris not policed up is almost guaranteed to FOD (foreign object damage) an engine. Not to mention the possibility of a collision with another aircraft on the ground. Certain gates at airports are approved for use for reverse-thrust backing, but there aren't as many as there were some years back. The slight "lurch" forward is caused by the parking brakes being released and the ever so slight transition into reverse thrust, when the clamshells are opening.

As for connecting gate information, this is transmitted from airline operations to the aircraft via a special communication system called ACARS. (In earlier days, there was a system called SELCAL that did the same thing.)

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AlphaSigOU
Causa latet vis est notissima - the cause is hidden, the results are well-known.




[This message has been edited by AlphaSigOU (edited 10-01-1999).]

With regard to quick turnarounds, I'll be doing one next week Madrid to Barcelona on IB, and next month Bangkok to Hong Kong on CX...just to qualify for the OneWorld 100,000 mile bonus (on both AA & BA!).

I booked the BKK/HKG roundtrip by phone, and told them to mail me the tickets. Two days later CX's ticket department phoned me: mine was the next ticket due for processing, and they wanted to make sure there wasn't some mistake since the itinerary showed I'd only be in HKG for 1� hours! I assured them this was correct - I wouldn't even take the flights if I could be sure of getting the mileage - but was impressed by their diligence.

In answer to the original question, yes, it is standard procedure for many airlines (more often than not, American). It is only done in areas where there is no aircraft behind the gate or not in a tight terminal area (such as LAX).

I have found that US Airways usually reads off the connecting flights and gates while having you look at the airport gate chart in their magazine.