Word: runways
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Landings had been banned at Metro because of the fog, but takeoffs were allowed to continue because visibility on the runways was declared to be above the required quarter-mile minimum. Captain William Lovelace, making only his 13th flight after a five-year absence (he had left to get treatment for a kidney-stone ailment and later opened a gift shop), apparently became disoriented in the murk shortly after pulling his DC-9 away from the gate. According to investigators, he made a left turn onto a wrong taxiway, then failed to turn right onto a second taxiway that would...
...ground controller in the tower, unable to see Lovelace's Flight 1482 in the fog, asked First Officer James Schifferns, who was at the DC-9's radio, "Northwest, are you clear of Runway 3 Center...
Tower: "Northwest one-four-eight-two, if you're on 21 Center, exit that runway immediately, sir." Then came a shouted command from the tower: "Get off there!" Lovelace, busy at the controls, said later he did not hear his copilot tell the tower they were on the runway, or he would have "gone for the weeds," meaning roll off the runway and onto the grass...
Some of the most ingenious cost-cutting measures are those dreamed up by Continental's Fuel Conservation Task Force. Seventeen fuel-guzzling old Series 10 DC-9s and 727-100s have been grounded. Airplanes will taxi out to the runway on one engine instead of two. Airliners parked at the gates will be heated and cooled by ground-based units instead of onboard auxiliary-power systems. Someone even figured out that by removing all those little armrest ashtrays -- since passengers can no longer smoke on domestic trips -- Continental can reduce aircraft weight by 50 lbs. a flight. While that...
Instead, the pilot continued on to Guangzhou and circled above the city's Baiyun airport for 40 minutes. After the hijacker realized that he had been tricked, he either set off the bombs or scuffled with the pilot, causing the plane to lose control. Careening down the runway, the jet sideswiped an empty Boeing 707 parked nearby and slammed on top of a Boeing 757 filled with passengers en route to Shanghai...