CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) -- Cargo and passenger plane service came to a halt Friday at the Eastern Iowa Airport after a UPS cargo plane slid off a snow-covered runway.

Airport Director Larry Mullendore said there was no apparent damage to the Boeing 727 that slid off the runway about 5 a.m., but it blocked use of the airport by all but small planes.

"All the recovery crew is working as fast as they can," Mullendore said. "It's going to take most of the day."

Mullendore said the airport has 88 passenger plane arrivals and departures each day and all of that traffic had been stopped.

The airport has two runways. But the cargo plane left the runway and came to rest approximately 40 feet off the northern edge, blocking safety areas on both of those runways.

"We are still looking into the cause," Mullendore said.

http://www.wcfcourier.com/newsflash/010316air.html

-- Doris (nocents@bellsouth.net), March 17, 2001

Answers

This may be a problem with the ABS system. The disc brakes are pulsed at very high rate in order to eliminate locking the wheel as it rolls down the runway. A/C generators in the wheels sense the frequency and sends this to a computer which supplies the message to the hydraulic system to pulse the brakes. If one wheel locks the plane will skid.

-- David Williams (DAVIDWILL@prodigy.net), March 19, 2001.

Flaps not set for take-off? Looks as though it was 50 feet in the air when the pilot's mind was changed--he had time to warn the passengers to tuck their heads before it came back down with a thump. (I cannot get the article to copy.)

Detroit News

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), March 19, 2001.

Latest from Detroit News: the Airbus A320 was not going fast enough for take-off. Reportedly, 110 knots instead of the usual 145.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), March 20, 2001.

Aircraft is fly-by-wire. Computer malfunction?

NTS B preliminary accident report

NTSB Identification: CHI01FA104

Scheduled 14 CFRPart 121 operation of Air Carrier Northwest Airlines Accident occurred Saturday, March 17, 2001 at Detroit, MI Aircraft:Airbus Industrie A320-200, registration: N357NW Injuries: 3 Minor, 151 Uninjured.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On March 17, 2001, at 0705 eastern standard time, an Airbus Industrie A320-200, N357NW, operated by Northwest Airlines as Flight 985, contacted the runway and the terrain during takeoff at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Detroit, Michigan. The airplane received substantial damage. Three passengers reported minor injuries. The captain, co-pilot, 4 flight attendants, and 145 passengers were not injured. The 14 CFR Part 121 flight was operating in instrument meteorological conditions and an IFR flight plan was filed. The flight was originating at the time of the accident and the intended destination was Miami, Florida.

The takeoff was initiated on runway 3C (8,500 feet by 200 feet, wet). The flight crew reported that at an airspeed of approximately 110 knots, the nose of the airplane began to lift off. The captain attempted to lower the nose, however, the airplane was unresponsive. The airplane became airborne and climbed to an altitude of 20 to 30 feet above the runway. The captain reduced the power on both engines and the airplane settled to the runway, striking the tail. The airplane traveled approximately 700 off the end of the runway where it came to rest in the muddy terrain. An emergency evacuation was performed during which the L2 evacuation slide did not deploy.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), March 21, 2001.