Think Eclipse Traffic Sucks? Check Out The Plane Lineup At Madras Airport In Oregon!

Published Aug 21, 2017 8:40 PM EDT

Those who thought they would beat the eclipse viewing traffic by soaring over it are getting a nasty reality check at little Madras Airport in central Oregon. The video below, shot by Portland NBC affiliate KGW’s helicopter, shows an almost comically huge line of aircraft waiting to take the airport’s main runway for departure. The planes in line for departure range from home-built kit planes to small corporate jets.

The town of Madras, which has a population of roughly 7,000 people on a normal day, saw hoards of people flood into the area to watch the once in a lifetime celestial event. The city sits perfectly on the “line of totality” and the area’s weather this time of year is predictably ideal for viewing.

Oregon had been in a near emergency state in preparation for a huge influx of eclipse viewers, and traffic was predicted to be near disastrous in the hours before and after the event. With this in mind, aviators and those who could afford to charter an aircraft to leap over the traffic apocalypse below probably thought they had beat the system, but now it looks like that simply isn’t the case. And depending on fuel loads and destinations, some of the aircraft waiting in that huge taxi queue may have to go to the back of the line or wait out the rush so that they can make it to their destination without diverting.

Madras was one of the best viewing locations for the eclipse in the entire United States. , Greatamericaneclipse.com

Normally, Madras Airport is a relatively quiet place. Sporadic light aircraft traffic is normal, as well as the occasional turboprop or business jet. Erickson International has a large presence at the airport and their firefighting aircraft are usually on the ramp there. Erickson antique aircraft collection is also based at Madras, which includes WWII fighters and bombers. But aside from a small but fun little air show every summer, not much else goes on out there. So anywhere near this type of traffic is totally unheard of at the airfield.

Making things more precarious, Madras has no air traffic control tower. So deconfliction and coordination of takeoffs and departures is done via open frequency, aircraft-to-aircraft communications. It is unclear if a temporary tower was setup for the eclipse rush or not. But regardless, with one 5,089 foot runway and one 2,701 foot runway available, and many dissimilar aircraft trying to use those runways, things can go wrong real fast. One airplane already crashed on Saturday while approaching the airport, with the pilot dying in the crash.

Hopefully everyone’s trip home is safe and predictable.

Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com

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发布于美国东部时间2017年8月21日晚上8:40

那些以为飞越机场就能避开日食高峰期的人们，在俄勒冈州中部的小马德拉斯机场遭遇了残酷的现实。以下这段由波特兰NBC附属电视台KGW的直升机拍摄的视频显示，一长串飞机正排队等待从机场主跑道起飞，队伍之长几乎令人啼笑皆非。这些飞机种类繁多，从自制套件飞机到小型公务机应有尽有。

马德拉斯镇平日人口约7000人，但为了观看这千载难逢的天文奇观，大批民众涌入该地区。这座城市恰好位于“全食线”上，而且此时的气候也正是观测日全食的理想时节。

为了迎接大量日食观众，俄勒冈州几乎进入了紧急状态，预计日食前后几个小时的交通状况将极其糟糕。考虑到这一点，飞行员和那些有能力包机避开拥堵的人可能以为他们已经占尽了先机，但现在看来并非如此。根据燃油量和目的地，一些在长长的滑行道上等待的飞机可能不得不重新排队，或者等待高峰过后才能顺利抵达目的地，而无需改道。

马德拉斯是全美最佳日食观测地点之一。（来源：Greatamericaneclipse.com）

通常情况下，马德拉斯机场相对安静。零星的轻型飞机起降是常态，偶尔也会有涡轮螺旋桨飞机或公务机起降。埃里克森国际公司在该机场拥有大量业务，他们的消防飞机通常停在停机坪上。埃里克森的古董飞机收藏也位于马德拉斯，其中包括二战时期的战斗机和轰炸机。但除了每年夏天举办的小型但有趣的航展之外，机场几乎没有其他活动。因此，像这样的大规模交通在机场是闻所未闻的。

更糟糕的是，马德拉斯机场没有空中交通管制塔台。因此，航班冲突的协调和起降只能通过开放频率的飞机间通信来完成。目前尚不清楚是否为日食高峰期搭建了临时塔台。但无论如何，由于只有一条5089英尺和一条2701英尺的跑道可用，而且许多不同类型的飞机都试图使用这些跑道，情况很容易迅速恶化。周六，一架飞机在接近机场时坠毁，飞行员不幸遇难。

希望大家回家的旅程安全顺利。

联系作者：Tyler@thedrive.com

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