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by oh_sigh 2820 days ago
Is it plausible that that AC759 could have taken out all 4 other planes? I don't really have a sense of the distances planes are spaced out on taxiways at major airports.
2 comments

Spacing between planes on a taxiway is a lot shorter than you would imagine. Depending on type, a 25-50 meters apart is common.

Keep in mind that these four planes were preparing for take-off, meaning that they were fully fuelled...

The KLM which had barely reached minimum takeoff speed and started to take off still flew 150 meters after it had plowed through the upper half of the PanAm and lost an engine and the main wheels. There's a lot of momentum in a moving plane, and they're stacked very close when holding on the taxiway