Lufthansa Captain Rainer Frischkorn releases his jet’s brakes for pushback. The jet immediately begins to move - which is odd, given that neither of the plane’s engines is powered up. Credit goes to the TaxiBot – the tug that is lifting the Boeing 737’s nosewheel, in order to move the 27-tonne passenger airliner. The tug cannot even be seen from the plane’s cockpit, but it lets Frischkorn taxi his jet around Germany’s Frankfurt Airport at a speed of up to 42 kilometres per hour (km/h). He steers the ‘TaxiBot’ via a nose-gear tiller in the cockpit, using the aircraft wheels for deceleration.
The real benefit of this arrangement is commercial. Designed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the partly automated tug vehicle allows planes to move around on the ground more quickly in a fuel-efficient manner. Noise pollution is also reduced. Before these tugs, planes on the ground could not be towed due to security concerns. They could only be pushed off their stands. After that, pilots had to use the aircraft’s engines to taxi to their starting position. ”The tug works like a skateboard powered by a hairdryer,” one of the technicians jokes. “It was not possible earlier, because once you start pushing say an A380, which weighs more than 500 tonnes, it’s not so easy to stop it,” explains Lufthansa engineer Thomas Killmaier.
The new TaxiBot works because the pilot takes control immediately after pushback. The fact that the pilot does not have to steer the plane any differently than if the jet was powered by its own engines is the secret to the project’s success. “We wanted to avoid any alterations to the aircraft, since that would need numerous authorisations in accordance with international law,” says Killmaier.
The pilots only need to complete a slightly changed checklist before start. The technology was developed by weapons manufacturer IAI, which uses similar high-powered computer chips in drones. So far Lufthansa has been testing the technology on the smaller Boeing and Airbus aircraft. But a new TaxiBot, twice as powerful as the ones currently in operation, is now being built to transport Jumbos. ”This is particularly interesting for airports with large hubs and long taxi routes,” says Lufthansa manager Sven Meyenburg, the manager responsible for the project’s strategic planning. The faster turnaround is achieved mostly by the fact that the aircraft do not have to power up their engines immediately after leaving their stands. Around 800 kilograms less fuel is used; carbon dioxide and smog-forming emissions are also reduced; additionally, there is less noise pollution, as the TaxiBot is half as loud as a conventional aircraft.
However, there are also disadvantages that need to be overcome. The TaxiBot is approximately twice as expensive as conventional tugs and is connected to the aircraft for a significantly longer period – leading to a need for more drivers.
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