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These days, one of the main topics discussed on social networks is the wind in the Quito airport – Tababela, But how dangerous is the airport in these months or the rest of the year??
*This post was reviewed by Ecuadorian air personnel before its publication.
It is already known in Quito, either in the new airport or in the old Mariscal Sucre, that the summer winds become extremely strong between June and until mid-September, what is known as the summer season or dry season in the Ecuadorian highlands.
These strong winds are normal in these months, And for those who live in Quito or visit the city at this time, the cold and strong wind that characterizes it is not surprising..
Of course, in recent years it could be said that the climate has become more variable, due to what many know as climate change or due to normal situations of nature.
Now, in the aeronautical subject that is what interests us, you have to be direct and say yes, Quito Airport suffers from these winds (which is no surprise to anyone), but aggravated by the orography in which it has been based for a long time 5 years.
Independent of the old or new airport, the wind phenomenon, affects or would have affected both equally, but the difference is in the geographical situation where the current Mariscal Sucre was built.
In these lines we will not talk if it was the best place to do it, if there were other options or if the old airport had to be kept, that is at the discretion of each of the readers of these lines, but whatever the case, the new one had all the necessary studies of the case to guarantee its construction, both in operational and security technical lines.
Is it a dangerous airport?
Either by the winds or by the geographical situation, the airport is not dangerous, but you have to be honest, it is a complex airport, like all high-altitude airports or known as hot & world high.
Yes, It is difficult and has additional complexities than other airports with these characteristics., but it also has very favorable advantages when compared to for example, the old airport.
A wider area of maneuver, a runway located at a lower altitude, ILS system on both runways, VOR instrument procedures, ILS and RNAV 18/36 and his track 4.090 meters long make this complex airport have excellent facilities for navigation and air safety.
This difficulty arises from the orography that was discussed above. In the surroundings of the airport there are endless streams, which cause to be generated descending winds or wind shear more followed to those who also passed in the old airport.
Additional to descending winds, there is influence of the eastern mountain range, that produce crosswinds and that together with the summer winds of the sierra, generates the concentration 3 different variables, that undoubtedly test the national and international pilots who fly daily to Quito.
These variables, generate that in short periods of time, both direction and speed of the wind, suddenly change, which generates the well-known "go around" or missed approaches.
You have to remember that the pilots are highly trained and skilled to deal with all these types of events that affect the normality of a flight, but it does not compromise security. In the cabin, pilots have to follow strict approach parameters and in case they are affected by wind changes, will start for safety, a missed approach.
Definitely, the winds in certain cases, can potentially generate more delicate situations on a flight, but also current aircraft are designed to alert the crew and deal with them properly.
All the conditions explained here will generate more than one scare, strong turbulence, missed approaches or landings, but rest assured that the entire Ecuadorian aviation industry and the world, is highly prepared to maintain security in these situations.
high altitude airports
A height field is considered, usually, to those airports that are on the 8.000 pies o 2.438 meters high (the current Mariscal Sucre of Quito is located 7.910 pies o 2.411 meters).
Operation at height will always bring airlines and pilots additional factors of complexity, but they're ready for this. Flying high implies that, for example,, the power of the engines is reduced as the atmospheric pressure decreases, use of slats and flaps and even in some airports the pilots carry out the approach with oxygen masks.
High altitude airports will always have their peculiarities. Bogota, Peace, Cusco and others, but comparing them is not relevant, as each will have their own complications due to where they are located, its climate and others, but it does allow us to point out that Quito is not the only airport that experiences situations like this.
airports, planes and the wind
Nor is the Quito Airport comparable due to the particularities mentioned above with other airports in the world where the wind is even stronger..
For instance, cases have been seen in Las Vegas where the wind has surpassed the gusts of 65 knots and in Quito it has not exceeded 37 knots. not comparable, but it does allow a different perspective, that not only here we live with the wind and turbulence.
The best way to see the effect of the wind on airplanes and how pilots are trained for this, They are videos from around the world to have a reference of this phenomenon:
The objective of this post is to put into perspective the reality of the Quito Airport, where there is an additional difficulty due to the above, there will be delays or diversions to other airports, but it is something that happens all over the world.
Marshal Sucre it is not a dangerous airport, but it is a greater challenge in the summer season for the crews whom we all thank for their daily professionalism, everything always within the strict air security that an international airport of this category requires and has.
The entry of new airlines to Quito guarantees the safety of operating there, Therefore, as users, we must rest assured that international standards are fully complied with at all times..
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Wind shears is a very critical situation to operate aircraft when landing
The airport that has them is critical
As long as the airlines continue to divert their flights to safe airports such as Guayaquil, there will be no risk of accidents and it is recommended to avoid landing in these conditions.
This should also be instructed by the control center, the tower and the DAC, sorry for the inconvenience, but that is the Quito airport
I wanted to know what happened to the Iberia plane that had an incident when landing at the airport on Saturday 11 August and according to what I have read in a comment on airliners.net, the A340-600 has been stranded in Quito for two weeks. Could you give me more details about it?? Or why don't you put a new post with detailed information about what happened?. I would like to know the details. I even know there's a video (the one I saw of very poor quality) where you can see the aborted landing but it was bad enough so it blew out a tire. If you can tell me more about it, I would really appreciate it.. By the way, thanks for this excellent blog., I've been following it since you started!
Hello david, Thanks for your comment. We have to wait for the report to find out what happened to Iberia, but in any case, the plane already left for Madrid ago 1 week.
The plateau where the new Quito airport in Tababela was built is a dry and desert sector, a loamy soil that is more sandy than clayey, which makes it vulnerable to erosion, the dust clouds that rise in summer especially, that is why they placed grass next to the platform and taxiway partially minimized this situation. Nevertheless, I think that it is not a geographically stable ground, that is why the Collas road has terraces to avoid landslides. The airport is not built flat or there are subsidences and slopes are seen from the beginning to the end of the runway. The ravines are a limiting aspect due to the winds, fog, cloudiness, etc… that in a flat place without ravines they are usually different and for air operations there are more risks of serious accidents than other aerodromes just beyond the safety zone if a take-off is aborted precisely because of the huge gaps and ravines.
Finally, Quito and its surroundings do not have better nearby places that are flat, and no matter how much they have done meteorological studies more than thirty years ago, the situation for aviation in climatic terms is almost the same but today the operability with the help of technology is better.
Agree with your comment Carlos.
The Tababela airport was built with studies that are more than thirty years old, so I think that the meteorological and other conditions changed at the time of its construction and that is why there are additional difficulties to those considered at that time.
I would like to see these studies and also be able to know if they were updated at any time in the analysis of climatic factors before or during construction.
What is difficult for Latin American aviation, particularly in the Andes, is finding flat sites… Many sites are already populated and if they are semi or partially empty, as happened in Tababela, they have streams. In other countries that have more money, the geography can be improved with landfills for future expansions and improvements in terms of operability, the negative aspects with engineering., but in Tababela I do not think it is feasible due to its enormous cost and size in the ravines…
As you say, Nicolás Tababela has advantages compared to the old airport and with better technologies in the future, there will be even fewer limitations under current conditions.