← Back to Squawk list
  • 23

Runway Melts at London Luton Airport

Submitted
The United Kingdom is "feeling the heat" as it experiences high temperatures throughout its borders. The country recorded its highest temperature today when a provisional reading of 39.1 degrees Celsius (102.4 degrees Fahrenheit) was recorded in Surrey. While this temperature is the average daily high temperature throughout much of the Southern United States, the United Kingdom only sees an average annual temperature of 14 degrees celsius (56 degrees Fahrenheit). (aeroxplorer.com) More...

Dan Mena
Weekly PickNews junkieEnthusiastTrusted friendHonor RollHonor RollDaily PickAmateur PhotographerPromoter

Sort type: [Top] [Newest]


Jimsinsky
Jim Sinsky 24
From looking at pictures on MSNBC, the runway didn’t “melt”, the heat caused the pavement to buckle. That happens when the concrete slabs expand and pop-up.
thttps://www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/07/18/london-flights-suspended-after-runway-damaged-during-heat-wave.html
Reply ↓•Permalink•Report
avionik99
avionik99 22
But using the word "Melts" fits the narrative far better than "runway concrete expansion".
It scares people into submission much better.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
Gordo412
Gordon Musch -3
Ever landed on a dirt runway? Ever landed a 200 million dollar aircraft full of passengers on a buckled runway? Those passengers would record this as video and post it al over the internet. Do you want that PR?
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
dilkie
dilkie 18
i don't think that was the point.. of course you can't use a buckled runway but the story could have been written the same with "runway buckled due to excessive heat", rather than "melted". All that using inflammatory (and wrong) words do is show that the folks screaming "fake news" are right.

And yes, I've landed many times on a dirt runway.. I've also had some really rough landings on perfectly good runways, pilots are not always that smooth... what's the point?
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report

[This comment has been downvoted. Show anyway.]

dilkie
dilkie 3
what the hell is your problem?
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 10
Read his prior posts. It appears he's unable to discuss any issue without turning it into his political bent.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
dilkie
dilkie 7
wow... maybe we shouldn't be letting kids in here. It's a place for adult discussions.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 4
We could let them I but restrict their ability to comment until they have learned how to behave and carry on a civil discussion. The Twitter generation lacks manners but if exposed to them they may learn just like a monkey can learn to imitate simple sign language.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
KineticRider
Randy Marco -1
I'm sick of IGNORANCE!
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 2
Then work at not being ignorant.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
KineticRider
Randy Marco 0
I know you are incredibly inscient; but, the more you post just codifies it.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 0
You say that like it's a negative.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
KineticRider
Randy Marco 1
You have once again accretively made my point... you might want to reference a dictionary, if you own one.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 0
in·sou·ci·ant | inˈso͞osēənt, inˈso͞oSHənt |
adjective
showing a casual lack of concern; indifferent: an insouciant shrug.
That describes exactly how I am affected by you. Hardly a negative. Now - toddle off little one.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
KineticRider
Randy Marco 0
You continue to make my point even stronger.

inscient
adjective
Having little or no knowledge; ignorant; stupid; silly; lacking knowledge; ignorant
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
jkeifer3
Joe Keifer 6
Concrete is the best solution for runways.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Report
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 3
That would depend on the climate were your putting a runway. Were we get cold winters the frost breaks and buckles concrete.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
nlmcgrath
nancy mcgrath 8
Hey Guys!
Can we stick to aviation.
Go to Facebook for the rest of it.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Report
v1v2
Jim Ward 4
I apologize. I just checked Facebook. The earth
Is moving closer to the sun. I stand corrected.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
kwgm
Kurt Matthies 3
Let's stick to aviation instead of the tarmac.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
SmittySmithsonite
SmittySmithsonite 4
Well it's kinda hard to when these stories always link to left-leaning propaganda outfits such as MSNBC ...
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 0
I missed that. What link?
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 1
In a perfect world.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
Chinabound
michael burke 1
Amen, Nancy. It has become more and more difficult to enjoy the comments here anymore.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
larrykreuger
Larry Kreuger 4
My understanding is that the term “melting” has been used in cases of extreme heat in the UK for roadways. Basically the top 2-3 centimeters of some surface layers can become soft…and I think this happened on the tarmac on the day(s) in question…so I don’t think there is any political juice (as they say) here. Hope this helps.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Report
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 6
Maybe it did melt - or soften a bit? Back in Chicago and working downtown, many times as I'd cross a street, my heels would sink down into the street and I'd walk right out of my shoes, them remaining stuck
. It melted - maybe not to liquid form, but ultra soft.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Report
johntaylor571
John Taylor 3
A little off topic but I was reminded of a TV commercial when I was stationed in England in the 70's. I think it was Baby Cham or some such but anyway, this bloke sees this beautiful girl walking towards him and he says to her, "You must have wafted in from Heaven". She replied in a heavy Cockney accent "Naw, Luton airport". The things one remembers...
Reply ↓•Permalink•Report
CAH747
CLARENCE HELLER 3
Three educated responses one political and the topper was the use of Melt to get attention. Ah, English journalism and we speak a common tongue!
Reply ↓•Permalink•Report
AeroncaGuy
Rick Cowan 3
Can we please avoid politics in this forum. Great way to ruin a thread is to insert comments disparaging conservative or liberal folks. We're here because we love aviation!
Reply ↓•Permalink•Report
WhiteKnight77
WhiteKnight77 2
I just wish the media would quit using the word tarmac in describing runways, taxiways and ramps. Not everything is made from asphalt.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Report
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 3
And asphalt is not tarmac.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 2
Living in the land of dirt runways (actually well compacted gravel) we still call the tarmac a tarmac.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 0
Are you saying you refer to the dirt runways as tarmac? cuz, ya know, tarmac is a material, not the space an aircraft travels on.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 2
The pilots, the flight clerk, the airport maintainable…all call it tarmac. It may be slang but it’s the same slang across the north.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
JacksonRentsAtlanta
Jackson Franco 10
More fear mongering from the media trying to convince us that the Earth is about to catch on fire. The runway did not melt. Hot pavement buckles. Happens all over the world. UK has had heat waves in the past and will have them in the future.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Report
MichaelDendo
Michael Dendo 4
Should not even be a story.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Report
kerimparrot
Mike Williams 4
Here in Tucson, we have higher temps for weeks and longer. Are we smarter? I think so.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Report
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 3
I used to live in Phoenix while working for an airline. One day, a number of years ago, the airport closed for a while. We were told the high temp was affecting the computers. I don't know if that was a song and dance or if that was the actual reason.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
kwgm
Kurt Matthies 3
I don't know about closing the airport, but old timers probably remember being stuck at the gate at Sky Harbor on a hot summer afternoon, waiting until ambient temps dropped below 120°F to push back and take off.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
CAH747
CLARENCE HELLER 1
Temp rise does cause density altitude to rise, therefore runway length is a factor in takeoff length. Now can I state my political beliefs???
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 1
Thanks for your post but no please leave the politics on Facebook or Twitter.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
waypoint66
David Rice 1
No. Thanks for asking.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 1
120? I lived there for 20 years, and I don't recall it ever hitting 120. Lots and lotsa times it FELt like 120, but ... the entire time I spent in Phoenix, to my knowledge, that was the only heat related closure...even though it was just a few hours.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
KineticRider
Randy Marco 0
Doesn't matter WHAT you remember... it was 122 degrees on June 26, 1990.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 1
I don't recall saying it was inaccurate. I said I don't recall the event. Matter of fact, the all-time hottest temperature ever recorded in the state of Arizona is 128 degrees, which occurred in Lake Havasu on June 29, 1994, and also occurred on July 5, 2007. Maybe you could try and not sound quite so antagonistic when attempting to make a point? Unless, of course, want you wanted was to sound like a boorish know-it-all.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 1
It’s not that your smarter your just use to dealing with local conditions. Come to northern Canada and those conditions are different due to our wide tempura tire swings from 100 F in the summer to -50F in the winter. Your not smarter or dumber your just the expert in dealing with the conditions you face.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 1
Ooops sorry spellcheck and a lack of proper proof reading resulted in a SNAFU in my post. That was supposed to read temperature not tempura tire.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report

[This comment has been downvoted. Show anyway.]

cannc
Sin Dee 0
…the US ranks near the bottom in the world among industrialized nations however…
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
SmittySmithsonite
SmittySmithsonite -2
And spends at least 100x more, too! I wonder how many other nations teach their kids to hate their own country?
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
waypoint66
David Rice -2
Spends 100x more than who? All other “industrialized nations”? Smitty needs to GET an education before posting. It is not surprising Smitty hates his country and apparently teaches his kids that behavior. Typical of people on the right. More “America is not great” BS. America has always been great.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
SmittySmithsonite
SmittySmithsonite -1
Trigger much? lol
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
KineticRider
Randy Marco -1
Sad that FACTS no longer matter and retards believe "alternative facts"...

FACT those retards live in the RED STATES.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report

[This poster has been suspended.]

avionik99
avionik99 3
Amen to that!
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 1
The runways in UK or anywhere else are made for the temperatures they expect to experience. Here in Northern Canada we get summer temperatures up to 35C and in winter we drop to -50C. Runways are build quite a bit differently then in an aria that only gets 10C or 20C swings. You build yours for your conditions and hopefully do a great job of it, we build ours for our conditions and again hopefully we do it well and the UK builds theirs to what their conditions are and sometimes even the Brits get it right (just kidding). The airport in the article obviously was not designed for the temperatures they experienced due to a lack of foresight or some other screw up.
As for global warming, climate change, etc I think if they stopped all the fear mongering and stuck to the actual data we could have civil discussions on the topic, but it has become all about politics and science is being corrupted for political means.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report

[This comment has been downvoted. Show anyway.]

TimDyck
Tim Dyck 3
WTF is wrong with you? Gary posted his opinion of the situation without any politics in it and you try to turn it into some kind of political argument. Go to Facebook or Twitter if you want to make everything into politics, this is an airline industry site.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report

[This poster has been suspended.]

MichaelDendo
Michael Dendo 7
He has mo point except to prove he is a mindless mutt.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
jkeifer3
Joe Keifer 2
They could tear it all up and install a refrigeration system in the concrete and that would prevent it from happening in the future. Of course make sure the system is powered by renewable energy.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Report
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 1
Randy - It's a shame we can't downvote someone right out of Flight Aware - permanently. You'd be the perfect candidate.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Report
maltesefalcn
Michael Diamond -7
Just here for the comments. “cLiMaTe ChAnGe iz FaKe NeWz. I learnt dat on the Yootubes. MAGA.”
Reply ↓•Permalink•Report
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 2
Grow up already!
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
avionik99
avionik99 4
Climate change caused by man is the fake part. Climate has never in history of earth been unchanging!
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 1
I am not nieve enough to think we are not having an effect on the climate but I don’t think it deserves all the hype it’s getting, we need honest discussions without all the fear mongering and political ideology and we need to actually follow the science not just create science that fits the narrative. I have read the IPCC reports and then went to the studies they reference and find that those studies are misquoted and cherry picked to suit the political narrative the IPCC is pushing. That in no way helps us to deal with the problems we are facing and even worse directs our efforts in the wrong directions. So no man made climate change is not fake but using it to push political ideology is causing more problems then climate change ever will.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
msetera
msetera 1
Indeed!
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
v1v2
Jim Ward -9
Obviously a Trumper. Everything is fake !
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
KineticRider
Randy Marco -9
Spoken like the invalid that you are.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report

[This poster has been suspended.]

AWAAlum
AWAAlum 1
(Your lampshade is crooked.)
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 1
Good observation but maybe Marion leaves it like that to see who notices? Or it might be part of an international psychological plot to subliminally cause the rest of us to unconsciously tilt our lampshades? Or maybe the cat just bumped it and Marion didn’t notice befor snapping the photo.
Have a great day.
Reply ↓•Permalink•Parent•Report

Login

Forgot password?
Don't have an account? Register now (free) for customized features, flight alerts, and more!
Join FlightAware
Did you know that FlightAware flight tracking is supported by advertising?
You can help us keep FlightAware free by allowing ads from FlightAware.com. We work hard to keep our advertising relevant and unobtrusive to create a great experience. It's quick and easy to whitelist ads on FlightAware or please consider our premium accounts.
Dismiss