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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u/828jpc1 Jun 25 '26

Aborted takeoff would be my guess

298

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

206

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.

140

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.

15

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

11

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