"Bruce" wrote in message
On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 07:33:32 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:
That all makes sense, but when I look at Gatwick something confuses
me. It seems to have a second runway, 08L and 26R, to the North of
the main one. I thought Gatwick only had one runway. This one is
rather short, and the markings on it are slightly different to those
on the main runway. What is this used for?
Gatwick has a taxiway that is parallel to the main runway. However,
it can be used as an emergency runway if the main runway is out of
action for any reason. It is not used as a runway under any other
circumstances. In particular, it cannot be used as a second runway
because there would be no proper taxiways and stop bars and all the
other essential features an airport needs to support two runways.
It is constructed to full runway (rather than taxiway) standards
including width, pavement strength and lighting, and has its own sets
of approach lights and VASIs (visual approach slope indicators).
Some years ago, I was on a BA 737 that was attempting to land at LGW 08L
on a stormy night, as 08R was closed for overnight maintenance. The
pilot warned that it didn't have the same level of guidance systems as
the normal runway, so he wasn't confident that he'd be able to land. I
assume it lacked ILS then, and perhaps still does.
And, indeed, when we emerged from the clouds, the plane wasn't lined up
properly, so he had to abort the landing, and decided that the clouds
were too low to make another attempt. He duly diverted to LHR, which
would have been good news for me except that my car was parked at LGW.
It took ages for the bus to get the pax back to Gatwick, and it must
have been about three hours after our Heathrow landing before I drove
past it again on my way home.
In contrast, I have landed on LGW 26L in very poor conditions -- once, I
didn't see the ground until we touched down, as the fog and rain were so
dense -- so I assume that it is fully equipped for autoland.
So, the emergency northern (taxiway) runway is just that -- it's no
substitute for the normal main runway.