When a passenger jet roaring down the runway toward takeoff at New York’s LaGuardia Airport had to slam on the brakes earlier this month because another plane was still on the runway, Renee Hoffer and all the other passengers were thrown forward in their seats.
Hoffer wound up in the emergency room the next day after the near miss on May 6 because her neck started hurting and her left arm went numb.
“The stop was as hard as any car accident I’ve been in,” Hoffer said.
Kind of impressive a passenger jet has that kind of braking force. It’s not exactly a light machine + passenger/cargo/fuel weight.
Thrust reversal is pretty powerful. Kudos to the pilot for maintaining control.
Thrust reversers are powerful but they take time to power up and apply force. The sudden jerk throwing passengers forward is 100% from the braking action. The braking action is near instantaneous vs a gradual application of force by the reversers.
imagine how hot those brake pads were, converting that much momentum directly into heat in a flash. glad they didn’t bump into each other, since even a minor crash could turn into an inferno if leaking jet fuel contacts brakes that hot.
There is a serious threat of blown fuse plugs or fire. The carbon brakes create a lot of heat really quickly, but it takes a few minutes for that heat to soak into the wheel assemblies. There are plugs that melt to release the tire pressure so they don’t explode and cause further damage, but fire can still be a problem.