Had a pretty good "oh sh!t" moment earlier today...

[Left Seater]

Nice relaxing flight into a smaller south Florida airport today to grab some sales guys and deliver them to ATL. The right seat was flying the leg within FL and I was handling radios etc. Decent crosswind just off the threshold with mowing also going on around the field.

Right seat did a nice job of holding the centerline and just as the nose gear settled I see what looks like a log on the right side of the runway a few thousand feet down. Just then the right seat calls for TOGA. Training kicks in and soon we are rocketing back up. Gear up, flaps up a bit, communicate with the tower, those next thirty seconds were a blur. Shortly thereafter we are flying the racetrack and we tell the tower to send an ops vehicle out to clear the runway. A few minutes later the tower calls back to say it might be a few mins more as ops is trying to get an alligator off the runway.

Thirty minutes later and we are down and pick up our sales crew. I guess all the mowing upset the gator and he wanted to sun himself without being disturbed. That one sure got the heart going though. I think we cleared him by plenty but I don't ever want to do that again.

[Cueball]

I waited 1:12 and nuttin went boom

[War Wagon]

You have Toga parties in the cockpit?

Rack!

[Atomic Punk]

Question - is the 250 knot speed limit below 10,000 feet an IAS 250 knots or actual GS speed limit? I'd figure IAS. Btw - do they shit hard if you break that speed limit?

KIAS, and then there is the former TCA now Class A that is 200KIAS? It's been years so I forget a few things.

Lefty, did your Right seater see it before you did or was he staring at the landing spot?

BTW, one night flying practice ILS approaches with T&G's at Carlsbad Palomar (CRQ) I once had to abort landing at the last second to avoid hitting a coyote standing on the threshold. The landing lights blinded it and it froze right there. Funny but scary. Mikey prolly had it in his pool earlier.

[Left Seater]

IAS for sure. Roughly equates to 288 mph give or take. It is also part of our brief each time, it is very hard and fast, but that isn't to say that there aren't exceptions at times and ATC can approve exceeding it. Makes for a lot of work though to get cleaned up for landing. The ones I hate are the other way when we are asked to slow for the traffic in front. I would prefer to use the rubber speed brakes to correct my own mistakes rather than as a way to help approach control.


It was put in place in the early 60s after a mid air over Staten island, a United DC-8 was inbound Idlewild (now JFK) and 1 min before the crash was over 360 thru 4,000. Collided with a heavily loaded Connie on departure from LaGuardia. Though was it would be easier to see and avoid at slower speeds. Same thing with birds.


AP, I think we both caught it around the same time, but I know it took me a few beats to actually comprehend what my eyes were telling my brain. Not sure for him. But with all three down and rolling a lift being dumped from the wings it was an emergency.


TOGA = Take off go around, not wrapped in a sheet.