American Airlines MD-83 Landing at ABI - Abilene Regional Airport

Due to thunderstorms in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, several American Airlines/American Eagle flights were diverted to Abilene Regional Airport (ABI) on Thursday, June 24, 2010.

This is raw video of AA flight 1540 on final approach and landing on runway 17R at ABI. The flight originated in Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), and spent just over an hour on the ground in Abilene before continuing on to DFW....a short 30 minute flight from here. I intended to get a cool, uninterrupted shot of the plane as it passed directly over my head, but I was standing on an incline, so I almost fell down while twisting my body and camera....but oh well. It's still a pretty good shot.

This MD-83 joined other AA MD-80 series jets from Denver, Wichita, and Reno/Tahoe, an AA 737-800 from Burbank/John Wayne, and an American Eagle EMB-145 regional jet from Springfield, MO. Unfortunately for the hundreds of combined passengers, ABI's terminal is designed for low-density regional jet use, with only two jetways. That meant the passengers had to bide their time onboard the jets, rather than stretch their legs in the terminal.

ABI is currently served exclusively by American Eagle, with seven roundtrips per day to DFW on EMB regional jets. Prior to the recession, service to IAH was provided by Continental Express/Connection, and the City's ultimate goal is to have scheduled regional jet service to the west, such as Phoenix or Denver. However, even though ABI's "catchment area" includes over 300,000 people, the region's close proximity to both DFW and Midland/Odessa (MAF) entices most travelers to drive to those larger airports, rather than fly locally. It's supply/demand at it's most basic.

ABI is, however, home to Eagle Aviation Services (EAS), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AMR. AMR is the parent corporation of both American Airlines and American Eagle. EAS is one of two heavy maintenence bases for American Eagle's entire fleet of regional jets, so there's always heavy RJ traffic at the airport.

ABI is also a primary diversion airport for most single-aisle aircraft destined for DFW. The airport's two 7,200' parallel runways can accomodate pretty much any narrow-body jet, including Boeings and Airbus'. When DFW is closed due to severe weather, it's not uncommon to see up to a dozen or so jets from all airlines parked wing to wing on ABI's tarmac.

I shot this video with my JVC GY-HM700CHU ENG camcorder, in 720/60P SP mode.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• abilene regional airport
• kabi
• abi
• american airlines
• airplanes

[unxknownxorigin]

i dont knwo if its the angle or anythign but that starboard side thrust reverser looks jacked up.

[pikapoketpu]

I notice he planted it pretty firmly and used full reverser. Was that because the runway is only 7200'?