Comments on: Do you think small planes like the Cessna should not use jet liner airports?

By: rohak1212

rohak1212 — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:40:59 +0000

Most of the light planes do use regional or secondary airports. But if the pilot wants to fly to a certain place sometimes the international airport is the only one that’s viable. After all, if you’re going to fly to New York in your own plane you have what, two international airports to choose from, but are there any secondary fields that are still actually in the city? Or would you have to take a train rent a car to get into town? Maybe New York is a bad example, but some of the smaller major cities just don’t have other airports besides their one major airport. So you’d never be able to go there by plane if you were denied access because you are in a light aircraft.

I think instead there could be a separate rating for pilots to fly into major airports so they know what they’re getting into.
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By: Logan C

Logan C — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:00:59 +0000

no seeing as I fly into large airports in small 172 cessnas all the time (I live in Houston), as long as the pilot of the aircraft is competent and is familiar with the large airport there should be no problem. but there are some stupid pilots out there, you know who you are, that shouldnt be let anywhere near a plane but got their license, these are the people who should not be allowed to use the facilities that a large airport provides.

plus I avoid major Hubs at all cost seeing as they charge ridiculs prices for fuel.

if you are that afraid of flying I suggest you go to your local airport and take a discovery flight, if this dosent help you overcome some of your fears, then you need to ride greyhound canada, where beheadings happen!!
that was a joke I repeat that was a joke
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By: MALIBU CANYON

MALIBU CANYON — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:15:59 +0000

You said “not the express ones”. A significant percentage of traffic at LAX is comprised of regional jets. The hiring minimums for first officers on regional jets are far less than what would be required of an ATP type-rated first officer on, say, a professionally flown late model Cessna Citation Sovereign or X, let alone a professionally flown Gulfstream 450/550, for example, or a Global Express. LAX, for example, is a pain for taxi purposes. And congested. Van Nuys is the nation’s highest volume airport with respect to non-airline jets. I’ve flown private jets into both LAX and Van Nuys ( and many, many other airports). You should listen to LAX ground control sometime. And hear the pilot non-U.S. “big planes” like 747′s and Airbuses tie up the frequency with barely readable “English” and the obvious difficulty ATC has communicating with them. Good luck.
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By: JoelKatz

JoelKatz — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:48:59 +0000

Cars crash into buses much more often. In general, this does happen. Most pilots of small planes avoid the larger airports because they don't work very well for them. Many airports do have two sides, one for GA and one for air transport.
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By: Rob G

Rob G — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:58:59 +0000

First, people who work in ATC are all very experienced. There are many things that lead up to one plane hitting another. It’s usually not just one simple mistake. It’s usually a chain of bad calls that lead up to that sort of catastrophe. Night time, fog, tower can’t see the planes, pilot makes a wrong turn (not just the small plane pilot) and winds up on a runway he/she shouldn’t be on, controller gets impatient with the pilot and looses their cool, another impatient pilot just wants to go, etc. I’m not sure what the statistics are, but these accidents don’t always involve a small plane. It has happened between big planes. Thus, forcing the little guys out would only inconvenience them. It wouldn’t make things any safer.

Now, given all that, there have been many improvements over the years to help eliminate this sort of accident. When ATC folks and pilots go through training, they study these sorts of accidents so they can recognize a bad situation and prevent it.

You have nothing to worry about.
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By: pecker_head_bill

pecker_head_bill — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:43:59 +0000

I second JurassicBark
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By: JurassicBark

JurassicBark — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:17:59 +0000

I would answer no, because I believe the problem has already been solved in a variety of different ways.

First of all, most of the airspace around air carrier airports is either under positive control or positive radio communication. No little Cessna's are running around not talking to ATC. The busiest air carrier airports are surrounded by class B airspace, which means you need ATC permission to enter.

Air carrier airports often charge significant landing fees to discourage light aircraft from using them.

Together, this results in fewer general aviation aircraft using air carrier airports and positive control of those who do.

In addition, most busy air carrier airports do have a shorter, general aviation runway available for small aircraft to keep them away from the busier runway(s).

The real problem with near misses is the lack of experienced air traffic controllers. Inexperienced controllers will start becoming the norm and experienced controllers will be fatigued and overworked with 6 days weeks and 10 hour days becoming common.

These problems are real and coming to an airport near you soon.

I am not here to try to freak anybody out. I am here to tell the truth. Read here for some background:

http://jurassicbark.blogspot.com/2008/03/why-am-i-here.html
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FAA air traffic controller
http://jurassicbark.blogspot.com

By: rhsaunders

rhsaunders — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:46:59 +0000

Most of the time, light planes don't use the commercial airports, because there are small airports closer to where the people want to go. But sometimes it is necessary; I landed my Cessna at Chicago Midway once because I needed to clear Customs (having come in from Canada). Also, large airports are more likely to impose landing fees or other charges, which smaller ones usually don't.
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By: daddylonglegs2003

daddylonglegs2003 — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:37:59 +0000

Most of them do. The small cessna style planes use municipal airports where there aren't airliners.
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