Dear Followers! Welcome back to my channel. I gonna be asking a question which was sent in by one of my youtube subscribers
called G Star:
"Joe I would like to know what a backtrack is, I've been hearing pilots talking to each other about backtrack procedures but I am
no clue, please help me out. No worries. Uh so today's topic will be what is a backtrack.
So we need to backtrack. What are they talking about? Maybe you've actually experienced a backtrack on your last flight
but I have to admit it is fairly rare.
Imagine you land on a little airport with no taxiways, trust me they are out there,
so once the plane has landed it needs to taxi back to the terminal so then you can exit the aircraft.
But how without a taxiway? The tower controller will say
"Speedbird 125 taxi to parking stand 10 via
backtrack on the runway and exit taxiway C".
So the pilot has to perform a 180 degree turn on the active runway and then taxi back to
the nearest runway exit. So "back" for taxing back the runway and
"track" because the runway alignment is a track and not a heading - there it go - backtrack, simple as that.
At some airports the runway is too narrow for the turn so tha they've installed turning areas
mostly at the end of the runway with a taxi guideline so that the aircraft is clear of any obstacles whilst performing
a 180 degree turn.
Even aircraft manufactures have published procedures on how to perform the correct
180 degrees turn in order to avoid rolling off the turning pad with your landing gear and to prevent tyre
abrasion.
Unfortunately there are a few disadvantages with airports where backtracking is a common procedure.
For example in this video you can see that we had to backtrack to the end of the runway and turn around for take-off.
During that time the runway is completely blocked and other
aircrafts are unable to land or take-off. This can cause delays during approach as well as for departure.
Now if the runway isn't equipped with runway centreline lights
backtracking during night operation and bad weather can be hazardous and take up even more time.
Also turning pads can be very slippery in heavy rain due to rubber abrasion and have to be approached with caution.
In countries like Africa
backtracking for take-off and after landing is a very common procedure due to rare traffic,
there was actually no need to build an extra taxiway.
Also, it's an easy way to check the runway for debris and scare away animals which have been resting on the warm tarmac,
that's actually true.
At the airport of Funchal on the island of Madeira
they have no other choice than using the backtrack procedure due to the geographical environment.
There's actually no space for a taxiway obviously if you set an airport on a volcano.
I hope you've enjoyed this video, and I've answered another aviation related question for you, so give me a thumbs up, subscribe my channel and
spread the word! If you have further questions, don't hesitate to comment below. I'll be happy to answer your questions.
Thank you much for watching, see you next time, your Captain Joe
So the next time you're sitting in a passenger seat, after landing or prior take-off, and you can feel the aircraft turning
a 180 degrees, it's most probably because the pilot had to backtrack or he has taxied the wrong way
but that is most unlikely.