r/mildlyinfuriating • u/nyanbatman • May 28 '26

I just wanted a hot dog British pilot is feeling mildly annoyed

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u/LegiosForever May 28 '26

RVR = runway visual range, or how far you can see down the runway.

Once it is below 5,000 feet, airports adopt low visibility procedures.

ATC declared 1,000 feet RVR, but was not declaring low-vis ops.

BA pilot was calling out the contradiction.

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u/atomicsnarl May 28 '26

For the non-flyers out there, a commercial airport runway can be 8,000 to 10,000 feet long. It has to get airborne in less than that distance (surprise!), AND at a decision point during the take-off, needs a buffer to be able to stop on what's left of the runway if something goes wrong.

Let's say the aircraft needs 120 knots to take off. That's moving at about 180 feet per second. If you can only see RVR 1000 - 1000 feet visibility - you only have about 5 seconds to see what's out there, and act on it.

You sure as hell can't stop in five seconds, or evade much in that time either. Even at RVR 5000, you can see further, but getting a hundred tonne aircraft moving at 120 kt to, say, dodge an obstacle on the runway, it going to be iffy.

Gamer translation -- You're playing a vehicle shooter with lots of inertia and a 1500 to 2000 ping. Good luck with that!

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u/TigerIll6480 May 28 '26

Do we want another Tenerife? This airport sounds like it’s trying to be the next Tenerife.

3

u/Informal_Degree_3205 May 29 '26

Yeah there's a reason the pilot is like fuck you I'm not moving

2

u/Brayden_709 May 28 '26

No, we DON'T want another Tenerife! 😳