Thread: Airline News

Originally Posted by Tom Sawyer

Originally Posted by Thormaturge

I believe the minimum distance is usually 1,000 ft.

I though flight separation was 5 miles? Perhaps you're refering to what's considered a near miss?

Planes cruise at 500 mph and approach their landings at around 300 (then slowing on final approach), so even at the slower approach speeds they'd still cover 1,000 ft in around 12 seconds. At cruising altitude it would take only 8 seconds.

That's horizontal separation during cruising (surely you've seen planes closer than that coming into land!).

The minimum vertical separation is 500, 1000 or 2000 feet, depending on the airspace you are in.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

surely you've seen planes closer than that coming into land!

The minimum vertical separation is 500, 1000 or 2000 feet, depending on the airspace you are in.

At 200 mph (a rough landing approach speed) you're covering 3.3 miles per minute - or 5 miles in just over a minute. I'd say that's about as frequent as you ever see them land - even at busy airports - though I believe they stretch it to every 40 seconds in periods of congestion at Heathrow.

Originally Posted by Tom Sawyer

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

surely you've seen planes closer than that coming into land!

The minimum vertical separation is 500, 1000 or 2000 feet, depending on the airspace you are in.

At 200 mph (a rough landing approach speed) you're covering 3.3 miles per minute - or 5 miles in just over a minute. I'd say that's about as frequent as you ever see them land - even at busy airports - though I believe they stretch it to every 40 seconds in periods of congestion at Heathrow.

I think 90 seconds is the norm, it might appear more frequent because there's more than one runway.

Interesting while reading this, discover that when taking off or landing behind the A380, the recommended minimum isn't given in distance, but in minutes - three to be precise - because of the wake turbulence.