Most airports have one runway, and a single disabled aircraft on it stops every movement. Arrivals divert, departures hold, and the cost climbs by the hour. That is why ICAO Doc 9137 Part 5 expects an aerodrome to keep a recovery capability sized to the largest aircraft that uses it. Neometrix’s Disabled Aircraft Recovery Kit (DARK) is engineered for that job: lift the aircraft without doing more damage, and get the runway back.<\/p>\n
A damaged airframe is fragile and may still be loaded with fuel and cargo, so it cannot simply be jacked under a single point. Low-pressure pneumatic air-lifting bags placed under the fuselage and wings spread the load over a wide area and raise the aircraft slowly and level, controlled from a console. It is the gentlest way to lift a large, fragile structure.<\/p>\n
Hydraulic jacks, shoring and cribbing hold the aircraft safely at each stage, and tethering stops it rolling or shifting. The undercarriage is then repaired or replaced, or the aircraft is supported on a cradle or bogie and towed clear, and the runway reopens.<\/p>\n
A DARK is an air, hydraulic and structural problem. Neometrix builds and integrates the air supply and control, the jacking, shoring, tethering, towing and the transport trolleys that keep the kit stored and ready. The pneumatic lifting bags themselves are specialist bought-in items. The kit is scaled to the aerodrome, up to wide-body aircraft (ICAO Code E\/F), and is engineered to order with no specific delivered kit claimed.<\/p>\n
In the lift and the stabilisation, not the towing. A point jack under a damaged, loaded airframe can buckle it, an uncoordinated lift twists the structure, and a poorly stabilised aircraft can roll or drop. A kit that is under-sized or not stored ready leaves the runway closed for hours longer.<\/p>\n