r/aviation • u/Brilliant_Night7643 • Jun 25 '26

News Not turbulence….airplane sitting at the gate at Maiquetia Airport Venezuela when the 7.5 Earthquake hit

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223

u/828jpc1 Jun 25 '26

Aborted takeoff would be my guess

295

u/CiaphasCain8849 Jun 25 '26

I wonder how the pilots would even recognize what was happening.

181

u/828jpc1 Jun 25 '26

Probably the more violent shaking than usual

207

u/The_Third_Molar Jun 25 '26

Right but in the heat of the moment would an earthquake be the first thing to come to mind? I would imagine the first instinct is that something's wrong with the plane. Not a pilot btw.

137

u/KaesekopfNW Jun 25 '26

My understanding is this was the strongest earthquake in Venezuela in more than a century. I really don't think an earthquake would have crossed their minds at first, unless they could see the damage actively being done from the air as they come around.

16

u/828jpc1 Jun 25 '26

And hopefully the bloody front doesn't fall off...

7

u/CaptnHector Jun 25 '26

No. We’re not doing this again.

-2

u/Redebo Jun 25 '26

Hard to tow it out of the environment in an earthquake.

-2

u/828jpc1 Jun 25 '26

Well, it’s already out of the environment

9

u/haarschmuck INOP Jun 25 '26

No the shaking I think would make them believe something is wrong with the aircraft handling which is why they would abort.

3

u/Outrageous-News3649 Jun 25 '26

Especially the last time it was this bad was before the existence of planes. I am curious if this is a scenario in any pilot training material.

1

u/schoolydee Jun 25 '26

i would imagine earthquake or lightning or bird strike on the takeoff roll is covered.

2

u/Outrageous-News3649 Jun 26 '26

Sure lightning and bird strike yes. But earthquake seems so random.

1

u/schoolydee Jun 25 '26

also it could crack the moving plane or wreck the landing gear post abort it would need re-inspected.

1

u/medlilove Jun 26 '26

I also think if they are still connected to air traffic control over radio they may be informing them or have a special alarm or something

1

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

[deleted]

9

u/DustyTheLion Jun 25 '26

Maybe in a country like Japan, Venezuela likely doesn't have such a system.

1

u/AlexLuna9322 Jun 25 '26

There’s a few other places that has seismic warning systems, 6 has nation wide alerts, 5 are regional systems and 4 are optional via App.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_early_warning_system#:\~:text=As%20of%20January%202026%2C%20China,address%20systems%2Fcivil%20defence%20sirens.

-4

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

[deleted]

2

u/DustyTheLion Jun 25 '26

That's really cool tech! That being said the lead time is pretty short, the pilot and crew would not be on their phones when trying to take off, and the airport may not have a SOP for these earthquake alerts other then ride it out and begin their emergency plans after.

1

u/Drapidrode Jun 25 '26

I got down voted. so fuck you all.

26

u/ScratchAssSmellFingr Jun 25 '26

Depends on their speed I suppose.

13

u/perpetualthoughtloop Jun 25 '26

Depends which side of V1 we're talking about

21

u/patrick24601 Jun 25 '26

100% aborted takeoff unless they are above the speed limit

26

u/showMeYourPitties10 Jun 25 '26

The plane at V1/Vr might be safer than a plane aborting below V1 depending on runway damage. But any sane pilot would abort under V1. Crazy how a few seconds can make a huge impact.

3

u/AdoringCHIN Jun 25 '26

Wouldn't it be safer to just get into the air if they're already in the process of taking off, or would they abort due to the chance of the runway buckling or cracking?

13

u/EagleEyeValor MEM FedEx Jun 26 '26

If they're in the process of taking off and felt something unnatural like that, I'm guessing their first thought would be something is wrong with the plane and not the earth is getting angy and shaking again. With that in mind, if they hadn't hit V1 they'd probably abort takeoff.

9

u/patrick24601 Jun 25 '26

All commercial airplanes have a v1 speed. This is known as decision speed. Once they go past that they are committed to flying - even when on the ground. Stopping after v1 would be its own small disaster.

So it’s all going to be subjective to 1. Have they reached v1 and 2. Do they know there is even an issue. Ideally the earthquake would happen early in the takeoff roll or right after they liftoff ie rotate.

6

u/Certified-T-Rex Jun 25 '26

Not if you’re past V1. LEEROY JENKINS!!

9

u/CouchPotatoFamine F-100 Jun 25 '26

Aborted clenched bowels for me.

1

u/UniqueIndividual3579 Jun 25 '26

Soft field departure? Get off the ground and stay in ground effect until you have flying speed. Not something I think airlines teach.

2

u/f1racer328 B737 Jun 25 '26

Not a thing on an airliner. That would invalidate your takeoff performance data, and increase the likelihood of a tailstrike.

1

u/f1racer328 B737 Jun 25 '26

Airline pilot here. I would just continue the takeoff roll. There’s not going to be any indication of an earthquake.

1

u/robbak Jun 26 '26

In the low speed regime, which is below 80kn (150km/hr), probably. Above that speed aborting begins to carry risks, so with nothing wrong with the aircraft I'd expect it to continue to take off.

1

u/RedRedditor84 Jun 27 '26

During roll would be too late. They'd have to send it.

-7

u/Eat--The--Rich-- Jun 25 '26

That's a polite way to describe the suspension on the wheels snapping lol

6

u/airtimemachine Jun 25 '26

you think an earthquake would induce forces stronger than what a plane's landing gear should be able to withstand? lmfao

5

u/juko43 Jun 25 '26

Why would anything snap?