A12 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 2, 1999 Windshear blamed for jet’s runway overshoot Brakes, cloud ‘also factors * By CHRISTIANA WIENS WEATHER conditions, Lo- cal mountains and lack of standard braking mechan- isms were all factors in a Jan. 14 incident bere that saw a commercial jel end up 400 fect past the end of the runway, says a federal safety report. The Bae-146 jet, an AirBC flight carrying 12 passengers and five crew from Vancouver, floated be- fore touchdown and landed faster and farther along the mnway than planned, said Transporlation Safety Board (TSB) inspector Damien Lawson. The federal body which investigates traffic inci- dents, said the slide was caused by low-level wind- shear 600 to 700 feet above ground, Windshear is a weather phenomenon caused when two or more layers of wind vary in either direction or speed. As a plane travels through the layers of wind, gusts can catch the plane and a significantly alter the plane’s speed. The airport here is well- known for low-level wind- shear, Lawson said, because winds travel up valleys and mix with strong outflow winds, In fact, AirBC’s qualifica- tions for pilots flying into the airport include a warn- ing to carefully monitor out- flow winds in the descent from Kitimat. fates ~ fh ale Veal ae orn”: ~ ae THIS AIR BC Bae-146 jet overshot the ru nway by 400 feet at the airport Jan, 14. The airline has since moved to replace the jet with the Dash 8-100 turboprop. Windshear is cited as a key factor In the incident. Lawson said the Bae-146 crew did every thing they could to avoid the incident. - When the crew noted their plane speed had jumped from 10 to 12 knots they had already passed the **Tt’s not the best place to be climbing,” Lawson said. “You can’t fault their deci- sion to land,” To compound the prob- lem, the Bae-146 is not equipped with reverse. The crew decided not to abort the land- ing because nearby mountains were obscured by clouds. missed approach point -—— where pilots are to veer up and abort the landing if con- ditions aren’t right. But mountains north of the runway were also obscured by clouds, Flood watchers remain on alert By MICHAEL COX WITH WEATHER more like winter than spring, offi- cials aren’t worried about rivers flooding — yet. Dave Gooding, a hydrologist with the Provin- cial River Forecast Centre, said that the high snowpack levels may cause problems im the Kitimat and Terrace areas, but there is no way of knowing for sure. “Even with a normal snow pack, unusual weather patterns can cause flood- ing,”’ be said. Gooding said the saving grace of coastal areas is that rivers are capable of hand- ling a large snowpack melt. Randy Smith, emergency coordinator for Terrace, said the high snowpack has kept them on alert. ‘Weve been looking for problem areas and now we have to sit back and monitor what happens,”’ he said. Because flooding fallout is handled by the Ministry of Highways and Transporta- tion, the city can implement a plan already laid out by the ministry, Smith said. “A flood isn't Jike an earthquake. It is gradual so we can take a proactive ap~ proach to the problem if water levels start to rise,’” he added. Len Barak, with B.C, En- vironment, said they have FROM FRONT been doing spot checks throughout the area to make sure dikes are capable of handling the snowpack melt. “The height of the snow- pack is disturbing and keep- ing us on alert,” he said. The Granite and Hatchery creeks and the Hazeltons have had initia] dike inspec- tions, but Barak said until the snowpack melis more there is no way of telling if they can handle the runoff. ‘We already know there has been record snow fall this year and we have to be prepared for a record run-off too.” Residents of Lakelse Lake should be concerned too, Barak said. Because Lakelse Lake residents fall under the juris- diction of the Regional Dis- trict it is up to them to organize a plan for flooding, “Individual property owners would have to fend for themselves if there was a flood,’’ Barak said. The Lakelse Lake Com- munity Association (LLCA) has set up a meeting with B.C. Environment to keep them up-to-date, Edna Cooper, chairman of LLCA, said they are not overly concerned, ‘We usually get flooding in the fall and the ministry has been helpful so far,’’ Cooper said. Lucent tests system at Telegraph Creek on jis wireless plans at a convention last year and suggested they try Telegraph Creek. “It was a sheer stroke of luck’? he said. “Their engineers saw it as an inter- esting challenge and a test case.’” The Provincial Learning Network then agreed to set up a two-way satellite link to the Internet at the school] there that could also be used by the local society. The society set up an antenna that beams the net into any computer — even a laptop sitting in the middle of a field — that’s within range. The society’s share of cap- Ital and operating costs will be recouped by fees to users, Pakula said, adding that will likely be around $40-45 per month, less for those who buy a4 year at a time. “Its not as if it’s big money,’” he said. ‘It’s real- ly quite affordable technol- ogy.” Ii’s the first site Lucent has tested the new system, Gromnner said, adding they'll also be trying ital a conven- tion soon. - Its potential use in remote settlements and areas with unusual topography may open up new markets for wireless from the far north to third world countries. A formal unveiling of the sysiem is belng planned for | June 26-27 in Telegraph Creek, thrusters, or cone-shaped braking mechanisms, that help a plane stop. Instead the Bae-146 uses speed brakes and wing flaps to stop. “That's not a problem, but it didn’t help either,” . Lawson said. The crew touched down about halfway down the 6,000-foot runway, applied maximum brakes and shut down the two outside engines to cut any residual power. The plane stopped 400 feet past the runway’s end. No one was hurt in the inci- dent and no damage was done to the jet. AirBC is slated to end Bae-146 service into the Terrace airport next month and replace the jet with a Dash 8-100 turboprop plane because of the economics of the route, ° CRIME Wa STOPPERS 635-TIPS with $500 in Member reward $25 FREE merchandise WHAT KIDS WEAR VIP GOLD MEMBERSHIP SAVINGS o 5 ‘ 2 Off reg. priced merchandise purchases. 532-3rd Ave. West Prince Rupert, B.C. Call toll free 1-800-883-8636. coulltevLN N 4702 Lakelse Ave. Terrace Ph: 635-6302 Where good food brings the whole family together! Keeping up with your we've added some new faces in our Kitchen. Rena, Bey, & Vince would like to welcome Travis, Dennis, Lorna and Mary fo our team. alas LI ever changing tastes, TN soos THE BUDGET PROCESS REVIEW PANEL . 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