Dog posed runway hazard, was shot

Cincinnati Enquirer ^ | 11/1/02 | Gina Holt

[Skooz]

By Gina Holt
Enquirer contributor

A schnauzer who escaped from a travel kennel was shot as it ran across the runway at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport Tuesday night.

The dog got out of its kennel, ran on the ramp and then out onto the runway about 5:20 p.m., said Ted Bushelman, director of communications for the airport.

"We did everything to try to catch him," he said. "He was running toward the runway. We just can't let it out on the runway. That was our heaviest time for take-offs."

Planes cannot take off when objects are on the runway because the engines tend to suck up everything around the plane.

"The headlines could have read: `Because airport police didn't shoot dog, 120 people died last night,' " Mr. Bushelman said.

"That's a sad situation," Nick Miller, spokesman for Comair said Thursday. "We're still trying to determine how the dog was able to get out of its kennel box."

He said the cause needs to be determined so that it doesn't happen again.

A Tennessee breeding service company flew the dog out of the Tri-City Airport in North East Tennessee.

"The animal had a final destination of Des Moines, Iowa," Mr. Miller said. "The dog was not with a family."

[al baby]

found this
http://www.fodnews.com/

check it out

[snopercod]

I wonder what I should make of this phenomenon? The end of FReeper civilization as we know it?

Personally, when landing, I always make a low pass first to scare away the cows, goats, sheep, and turtles. Notice I did not say the "Moose Word"

[Prodigal Son]

Humans once in a while.

ROFLMAO!

[Poohbah]

The Air Force policy is to do just that except in time of war of if it impeads a rescue operation. It really doesn't take that long for a vehicle to go out to the runway and chase the animal off.

Meanwhile, in the USMC, we just shot the damn animal.

[petuniasevan]

FOD, yes, but what classification?


Semi-solid foreign object.


No joke!

[sneakypete]

Someone, then, would have to go out to the runway to pick up the shot dog, right?

Yup.

Then why couldn't they go out to catch a live one?

Because live ones move a LOT faster than dead ones. It could easily take anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days to catch a scared dog. This represents the disruption of thousands or even tens of thousands of peoples lives through appointments missed,connections to other aircraft missed,etc,etc,etc. Think not only of the aircraft scheduled to leave,but what about the ones already in the air burning fuel that WERE planning on landing at this now-closed airport? They all have to divert to other airports,causing even more people to miss their appointments and connections.

Is a schnauzer that fast?

One that is alone,in strange terrority,and terrified is. I have a hard time believing this airport didn't have a trank gun handy for emergencies like this.

[TexasCajun]

F.O.D. ...us non-aviators learn something new every day.

I had seen the video of the airman getting sucked into the jet intake before, now that is scary!

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Quite a few airports employ trained raptors, birds of prey, to keep the rodent and bird problems under control and some airports have border collies to chase off geese and other migratory birds. If you ever ate in Ellison Dining Facilty at NAS Memphis you'd know that the rabbit that was served there on a weekly basis was harvested from the airfield on the base. It was not unusual to spit out shotgun pellets if one sampled the fried bunny.

[Prodigal Son]

Border Collies are cool. We've got a lot of 'em around here (Scotland). There are three different kinds apparantly (or is it just two?). Some herd the sheep, others hide and scare the sheep if they run the wrong way. I like the one that sneaks and hides the best. It's fustrating trying to play catch with that one though, he'll chase the stick for about 10 yards and then he'll run and hunker down behind something and "watch it". LOL! You play catch with all three kinds and the "hider" never ever gets the stick.

[petuniasevan]

NOTHING?

Maybe you'll take my word for it. I worked on B-52 bombers at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana in the mid-80s.



I saw the results of FOD damage. Many were birdstrikes.


Bombers often came back with a damaged engine (luckily they have 8). One KC-135 barely avoided crashing when it sucked up a seagull out at the end of the taxiway on a foggy morning.

The engine was totalled.

What if the dog were wearing a collar and tag? HARD FOD. Metal WILL thrash out and shell a turbofan. Bet on it.


Even if an unfortunate pup got blasted 'n' blendered, and that didn't damage the engine, just think what a mess there would be. It would be traumatic to any witnesses, and the aircraft WOULD be grounded for days while inspections and investigations went on and on.

Plus camera crews would be on the story as a tearjerker on headline newscasts. That would be a circus. This (though regrettable) solution will be yesterday's news before it's tomorrow.

[sneakypete]

No amount of money is worth that dogs life. Only human life is more valuable.

So,you don't care about local businesses going bankrupt,people losing their jobs,losing their cars and homes,missing connections to vacations they had been saving and planning for for years,or missing connections that cause them to miss funerals,weddings,or other family events? The life of one dog is more valuable than the disruptions of the lives of tens of thousands of people?

[Lurking2Long]

Clinton said the SAME THING about Monica!

[petuniasevan]

Yeah, that video still makes me cringe.

Did you know that he did survive? Not too badly hurt - broken arm, contusions (road rash), cuts, and some huge bruises.

Never cross in front of a jet intake within the danger zone (varies according to engine position and size). And don't walk behind one either. You'll get free flying lessons right then and there.

[petuniasevan]

They DO occasionally suck in birds on the taxiway. I've seen it happen. And yes it DOES damage the engine.

That's why airports employ a variety of methods to keep flocks of birds away - air cannons, predator calls, tack strips (so birds can't perch at that location), nest removal, etc. Yes, rifles are used in emergencies.

But what do I know? I'm just a former Air Force aircraft mechanic.

[AlexW]

Geee, I had no idea that Scnauzers had wings...

[300winmag]

Did you know that he did survive? Not too badly hurt - broken arm, contusions (road rash), cuts, and some huge bruises.

I've seen that video too, and always cringe. Apparently some part of the guy's gear got hung up on an sensor tube in the inlet, and kept him from being sucked into the blades. The wreckage being blown out the back of the engine was his headgear and ear protectors, which took out most of the guts of the engine on the way out.

[Ole Okie]

I have an ugly little video clip of an A-6 at night on a carrier deck, and the ingestion of one of the deck crew.

And during WWII, one of the carrier dangers was walking into a spinning propeller. Ugh!

[FreedomPoster]

>>You'll get free flying lessons right then and there.

I've got another clip that was a staged demonstration, where they ran a full-size U.S. pickup behind a 747 that's spooling up at the end of the runway. Picked it up, threw it about 100 feet, over a 4' tall rock/rubble barrier, and into a body of water on the other side. Splash!

[Alas Babylon!]

I'm retired USAF, too, and you're 100% right. I worked with the emtymologist specialists in CE whose job was to keep birds and animals off the runways and immeidate area. They've had to kill lots of 'em, too.

What makes me most dismayed here is that on Free Republic, the World's premier web site for conservatives, we have a bunch of emotional, whiney people who react EMOTIONALLY and won't even let the FACTS of the matter get in the way of those emotions. Life isn't fair. Gosh, go join the democrats!

[petuniasevan]

It was that other guy that posted that FOD was bogus

Glad to see it wasn't you.

Anyone who dismisses FOD as someone's imagination needs to see a shrink. Better yet, they need to do a FOD walk out in the broiling Louisiana sun for 2 miles down the flightline.

Not one screw, bolt, nut, bit of wire, cig butt, wire connector, washer, pen, rivet, penny, lightbulb, etc., can be left on the ground ANYWHERE aircraft are taxied, moved, towed, or stored.