L5 - Heavy25-11-2005 | |
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L5 - Heavy25-11-2005 | |
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An aircraft is considered as "heavy" when its normal operations weight is higher than 136 tons (300,000 lb). Airbus 340 and some Boeing 747 are heavy aircraft. In fact there are 3 categories (ICAO international specifications) :
. LIGHT = less than 7 tons (15,500 lb) . MEDIUM = between 7 and 136 tons . HEAVY = higher than 136 tons (300,000 lb)
Remark, some countries (UK, USA...) may have another category known as SMALL. Contact your division for national specifications. However, for flightplans, ICAO standards must be used, even in UK and USA. "Heavy" is specified into the callsign by adding HEAVY after the company's name and number of flight (it appears on PC Strips too) : BAW4521 Heavy is pronounced is pronounced "British Airways four five two one heavy". A heavy aircraft creates big wake turbulences that are dangerous for the following aircraft, espacially when it is small.These wake turbulences appear just after the rotation and stop as soon as the aircraft touch the runway. In other words, there are wake turbulences when the aircraft is airbone only. A minimum spacing has to be applied for a light or medium aircraft coming after a heavy landing or take-off. * ARRIVALS : . ALL CASES = 3 NM (no time limit) except for the following : . HEAVY behind HEAVY = 4 NM (no time limit) . MEDIUM behind HEAVY = 5 NM or 2 mins . LIGHT behind MEDIUM = 5 NM or 3 mins . LIGHT behind HEAVY = 6 NM or 3 mins * DEPARTURES : . LIGHT or MEDIUM behind HEAVY = 2 mins (3 mins if L or M performing an intermediate departure) . LIGHT behind MEDIUM = 2 mins (3 mins if L performing an intermediate departure) |
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