In Berlin, the new capital city airport is now flying as if BER borders a gigantic mountain massif in the east, which the planes have to avoid: Today, November 4th, the new southern runway opened – the first plane to land there was at 9.50 a.m. flight QTR 081 from Doha.
From now on, pilots can fly the Hoffmann curve in calm or easterly winds – this means that they initiate a drastic right turn a few seconds after take-off and still over the southern runway. Fog is predicted for Thursday – calm.
In pilot circles the maneuver is sometimes referred to as a stunt curve, and passengers who are afraid of flying as the “puke curve”. At least many passengers will be frightened and heart palpitations or sweaty hands if a start is completely different than usual and if nothing is announced.
In order to avoid noise over the communities bordering the airport to the east, the pilots have to initiate a 145-degree turn immediately after take-off and from a height of 180 meters – that’s half the television tower height.
Right above the ground, first right, then left again into the curve
The planes will then, shortly after take-off and still steered by hand, go into the curve in the climb that has just begun at an angle of about 25 degrees, quite close to the ground and just before the motorway. If the flight continues to the east, at the “double Hoffmann curve”, another turn is immediately taken, this time to the left. With a destination in the west, the machine remains permanently in an inclined and inclined position.
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The flight procedure, in turn, pleases the residents of the communities east of BER such as Zeuthen and Wildau, because the machines do not fly over them, but turn around beforehand, so they should be spared from aircraft noise.
However, there are also flight experts who suspect that the turbines will be heard loudly as the curve progresses due to the recoil and scattering. It will soon become clear: According to the wind forecast for Schönefeld, an easterly wind situation is expected on Friday evening or Saturday morning at the earliest. To the west, with the prevailing westerly wind in the region, the planes take off, as usual in the flatlands, for a few minutes in a straight line until a first turn is initiated at a higher altitude.
The idea for the flight maneuver, which is quite unique at Germany’s major airports, came from the private pilot and retired Marcel Hoffmann from Eichwalde, now 70 years old: “When the aircraft has taken off, you can count the seconds: 21, 22, 23 – and then the plane lays down partly still over the runway gently into the bend “, he had explained in 2013 to the Tagesspiegel at BER.
Seven years later, only minimal details of the “Hoffmann curve” were changed, that is, the routes were drawn longer, but the curve was not softened. The cockpit pilots’ union had expressed concerns when setting the flight route because a curve so quickly after take-off “reduces safety without an emergency “.
The Federal Supervisory Office describes the curve as demanding
In the “critical start-up phase”, flight captains preferred to concentrate solely on the climb. In addition, flying a demanding curve by hand – also according to the Federal Supervisory Office for Air Traffic Control (BAF) – increases the complexity in the cockpit, which in an emergency – engine problems, bird strikes, technical errors – could become a problem. Curves are generally more prone to errors and the safety cushion is getting thinner, is discussed again in pilot circles today.
The Federal Supervisory Office for Air Traffic Control wanted to check the flight route again separately. The so-called Hoffmann curve was initially only theoretically tested by flight simulation and checked for noise pollution – politicians and experts warned to check the safety carefully. According to the pilot, the normal case is checked, not special exceptional situations. According to the Federal Office for Air Traffic Control, every flight captain can then change the flight procedure immediately in a potential emergency.
According to BAF information, the flight route is absolutely safe and complies with all current aviation regulations. In addition, after the opening of BER, it will now be tested in practice for a long time. The Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court had denied complaints against the route.
Pilots are allowed to choose alternative straight flight
According to the BAF, the planning departments of the airlines propose the flight routes to the pilots, paying attention to time, economy and climate change. It is therefore likely that the airlines will recommend the Hoffmann curves for shorter flight times. If the aircraft is larger than a medium-haul aircraft or if a pilot prefers to take off differently because of less lift in warmer weather, flight captains can also request permission from the tower for a straight take-off, which then turns off much later and at high altitude. Flight captains are responsible people with a high level of self-confidence, and safety always comes first, according to the BAF experts.
According to the daily mirror information, according to BAF flight route expert Wolfgang Ruths pilots must also include the “climb gradient” when executing the Hoffmann curve: Despite the curve with a lower gradient, they must be higher in the air than approaching aircraft in the intersection area south of Schönefeld. At BER, aircraft take off and land on both runways from and to the north as well as from and to the south, which is also rather rare in Germany at commercial airports.
