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Report: Airbus A380 Wake Turbulence May Double Safe Distance Between Planes

Nov. 23, 2005

Airliners may have to fly twice the normal distance behind the new Airbus A380 superjumbo jet to avoid potential hazards from its powerful wake.

LONDON (AFX) - Airliners may have to fly twice the normal distance behind the new Airbus A380 superjumbo jet to avoid potential hazards from its powerful wake, the Wall Street Journal quoted preliminary safety guidelines as showing

Interim air-traffic control guidance from the International Civil Aviation Organization says the plane, scheduled to go into service next year, produces 'significantly stronger' air turbulence than the largest jetliners now in use.

On the basis of flight tests and data analyses, the ICAO calls for minimum separations of 10 nautical miles for all aircraft following a landing A380, versus the typical five-mile mandatory buffer behind today's largest aircraft.

However the guidelines, released to the industry earlier this month, are tentative and almost certainly more cautious than the formal rules expected next year, the Journal admitted.

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