Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Gillianren
here's what I want to know--so it took off at Burbank? why an emergency landing at LAX? the airports aren't that far apart--less than an hour by car, and you've got to go through downtown LA. I'm sure there's a reason; I just don't know what it is. (probably more accustomed to emergencies at LAX, which is also by far the bigger airport.) but put it this way--it doesn't substantially matter which airport I use to visit my mother; neither's more than about a forty-five minute drive unless it's rush hour.
|
LAX has longer runways than both Burbank and Long Beach, where they tried to land earlier. You're right in that they are more prepared there - likely they have more emergency equipment on-site than other, smaller airports. I understand that they have the option of diverting to Edwards AFB in the desert near Lancaster (over the mountains, just beyond LA), which has the longest potential runway of all, the dry lake bed where they have landed the shuttle.
I think they didn't want to divert to another, more distant city (like Phoenix, for example) in case there were other, unknown problems with the plane besides the nose gear. There's a whole lotta nothing between LA and other major cities (in terms of viable airports, I mean...unless they wanted to make a soft landing in a raisin field in the Central Valley).