Public Road Crosses an Active Runway? Does that Sound like a Good Idea to You?

Imagine you're the guy in charge of setting up a new airport. First you scout out the land, checking for possible obstacles, maybe some trees that might interfere -- yeah, those will have to go. Oh, and there's a nearby nest of nearly extinct birds who are drawn to the sound of turbine engines. Nope. That's not a good scenario. Birds and planes don't mix. ("Johnny, can you call up the bird relocation people? We're going to need an extraction.") And then there's the land. Obviously a good flat piece would be nice. Everyone likes a nice even landing. Putting a runway down the side of a mountain isn't going to quite cut it. (I guess you could try a mountainside runway for landings... at least the plane might stop quicker. But what happens when you get to the top? Turn around and coast back down? Uhh, I don't think so.)

So, imagine my surprise to stumble across what I first thought was a blatant error. No one would put a road right across a runway, right? Enter exhibit A. (for Airplane, of course) A recent YouTube video shows the Gibraltar Airport, with planes. (Incidentally, airports usually do have planes. I verified it on Wikipedia.) And then there's the runway - yeah, usually find those at airports too. And with traffic lights. No, not plane traffic lights (although there were plane to see). Car traffic lights. Early on the video pulls back to show a line of cars, trucks and other earthbound vehicles waiting to cross the runway. Why were they waiting. Oh, it's really rather simple. No, it wasn't because the pedestrian "Do Not Cross" light was on, or someone was a little slow in crossing the intersection. No, they were just, WAITING FOR THE PLANE TO TAKE OFF!

In defense of the architects of this airport, it became apparent to me as I finished out the video, that they really didn't have a lot of options as to where to put the runway. A bird's eye view of Gibraltar shows it to be a mountainous area, with very little flat ground. I guess it all came down to not having a whole lot of places to put a runway. (Or, is it that there weren't a whole lot of places for the road?)

So, if you do decide to drive across this active runway someday, keep your wits. Obey all the signals. Don't let this happen to you:

(Siren wails. Red lights in your rear view mirror)

Officer: "Do you know why I pulled you over?"

You: "Uhhhhhh, officer, if it's about that light... I'm sure that it was green."

Officer: "Then maybe you could explain THE TIRE MARKS ON YOUR CAR'S ROOF?!!"