Boeing 717 bogged Rockhampton Qld 11 July 2022

[FlyingVizsla]

Bogged airplane recovery at Rockhampton airport continues five days after sinking in soft ground - ABC News

 

A Qantas spokesperson said flight QF1798, travelling into Rockhampton from Brisbane, landed normally on Monday night.

But while taxiing at low speed to the parking bay the pilot "inadvertently guided the aircraft across soft ground and became stuck just before the terminal", the spokesperson said.

 

[facthunter]

A plane that size must keep on the Tarmac and even some of that may not be suitable. I doubt he or she will laugh that one off.  There's 2 pilots involved also.  Nev

[turboplanner]

They appear to have guided it at somewhat of an angle to the path.

[Cosmick]

Maybe some large salvage airbags under the wings to lift wheels would work.

[facthunter]

There are jacking points.  Probably no damage (so far). Nev

Edited July 16, 2022 by facthunter

[onetrack]

This is typical of Q's management - buggering around for 8 days with "specialised aircraft lifting equipment that has to be flown in" to unbog it. The B717 has a MTOW of 49,900kgs and it's 30,617kgs empty.

 

As it stands, it probably weighs no more than 40,000kgs, and probably a fair bit less. Get in a truck mounted 100 tonne crane, from a reputable crane operator who is skilled at lifting all types of loads, and they would wrap 4 to 6 wide flat woven slings around the strong points of the fuselage, hook them to a big spreader bar, and they would lift the aircraft straight up and out, and swing it around, and place on the taxiway.

 

But no-o-o-o, that costs money that's got to be paid out, to an outside contractor, and Q management wouldn't entertain a thought like that. No, they'd rather lose a weeks income from the aircraft, cost themselves a fortune in internal labour costs, and freighting debogging equipment from around the country - but it avoids paying out good money!  

[facthunter]

I don't really think that would be an approved technique, structurally.  As I've said, there are Jacking points DESIGNED to take the weight.   You want to be able to FLY the plane out of there. Nev

[onetrack]

Nev - Kunz lift aircraft with slings, so it's entirely feasible. Maybe slings around the wing roots, I'm sure some aircraft engineering expert would be able to supervise the lift.

 

https://kunz-aircraft.com/aircraft-lifting/

[facthunter]

The floor and some keel beams are the strongest parts. The skin's main job is to hold the pressurisation in. A truss to pick up on the jacking points would be the safest way. They are used all the time when  doing retract tests and U/C servicing.. Nev

[Blueadventures]

Reports now saying its out as of 45 minutes ago.  Next question out there is how long before she fly's again.

[onetrack]

Pics ... https://www.facebook.com/cqplanespotting/

[facthunter]

They probably just pulled hard on the nosewheel with the tug and now another row of seats has been fitted. Nev

Edited July 16, 2022 by facthunter

[Yenn]

There is not only the weight of the plane to consider, but also there is a suction on the bogged wheels.

[Butch]

Call me dumb !

Why couldn't you dig a ramp in front of the rear wheels as there is plenty of clearance .

Make a steel ramp that the aircraft can ride onto , use a tug and the planes own thrust to ease it out of the bog .

I've been bogged a thousand times on the farm and once you reduce the incline and provide a solid surface the amount of effort to remove the bogged machine is minimal.

But who uses common sense!

 

[facthunter]

It was mainly the right hand one affected. The rear was down a lot  (They are a stretched version) and using power of the amount needed would be a bit of a hazard to other people and may even move parts of the surface. The idea is sound though.  There'd be plenty of noise at full throttle. Nev

[Yenn]

Full throttle and it comes clear. Stand by for a quick acceleration, probably off the taxiway in the other direction.

[turboplanner]

If  we're talking about resourcefulness here, my take is that the rear wheels rolled off the concrete/bitumen and at their weight dropped straight down into the slop, which wasn't going to stiffen up much before the bitumen ahead of it so long ramps pushed under the wheels, or probably better, jacking each wheel using the jacking points and lowering base plates into an excavated hole up to tarmac level, then it could be towed backwards from axle level of the rear undercarriages with very little towing capacity required - perhaps a heavy truck winch for very fine control.  Shouldn't have taken 5 days.

[onetrack]

It's pretty much a standard de-bogging rule, that you're far better advised to be pulled back out of the bog, in the reverse direction that you went in. Only in rare cases does this rule not apply.

[turboplanner]

6 minutes ago, onetrack said:

It's pretty much a standard de-bogging rule, that you're far better advised to be pulled back out of the bog, in the reverse direction that you went in. Only in rare cases does this rule not apply.

Agree, and the pilot, once he realised the wheels had sunk seems to have followed that protocol and not ploughed a couple of metres of groove.

[Flightrite]

Many years ago it was a circus at YMML watching the guys trying to get a stuck B727 freighter sunk on soft ground back to terra firma, took ‘em all day using anything they could find to stuff under the mains, was very amusing😂

[pmccarthy]

About a dozen years ago, someone tried to pull out a bogged aircraft at Birdsville with a car by tying a rope to the prop, which bent like a banana.