Editing 3124: Grounded

{{comic
| number    = 3124
| date      = August 4, 2025
| title     = Grounded
| image     = grounded_2x.png
| imagesize = 294x335px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = We should have you at the gate in just under two hours--two and a half if we get pulled over.
}}

==Explanation==


In certain situations, such as extreme weather, airplanes may be "grounded", meaning that they are not permitted to fly, and scheduled flights have to be delayed or cancelled. This is often frustrating for passengers, especially if the airplane has already been loaded and is otherwise ready to fly. In this strip, a pilot in such a situation reports that they "have an idea", involving bridge clearance and top taxiing speed. "Taxiing" refers to the movement of airplanes while on the ground, such as when they're moving to and from their gate, and getting into position on the runway. The implication is they've given up on taking off, and are considering moving the entire airplane to their destination by ground, or possibly driving to an area with more suitable weather.

The joke is that such a plan would be ludicrous. There are situations in which flights between relatively nearby airports are delayed for long enough that driving between them would be faster, but airplanes were clearly never intended to travel significant distances by ground. Putting aside the fact that neither the engines nor the wheels were ever designed for long-term ground travel, it would likely be impossible. This comic was published during {{w|2025 Atlantic hurricane season#Tropical Storm Dexter|a storm}} which affected a significant part of the Northeast United States. This storm caused many flights to be heavily delayed or cancelled, which may be the inspiration for this comic.

The reference to "bridge clearance" suggests that the airplane could fit under all the bridges they'd need to pass during their trip, but that doesn't consider the aircraft's wingspan, which would be unlikely to fit on all the roads they'd need to use. At the very least, it would block multiple lanes of traffic (likely in both directions) for the entire trip and, since jetliners usually don't taxi faster than 25-35 mph, even a relatively short trip would block roads for a significant amount of time. Moreover, it's generally illegal for any vehicle to travel on public roads unless it meets specific standards (which an aircraft almost certainly wouldn't) and is properly licensed and registered (which an aircraft wouldn't be). Long delays in air travel may lead to people fantasizing about this kind of extreme solution, but it clearly wouldn't be feasible in real life.

The title text intensifies the humor, saying that driving will probably result in a traffic enforcement stop, and further extend the travel time. The "drive time" would probably be extended by more than the 30 minutes they have estimated, especially if the flight crew is required to stop, or disembark from the aircraft, or they could be entirely prevented from continuing onward.

=== Feasibility ===

A number of factors contribute to the feasibility of switching to driving:

* If the plane continues to wait, it may need to do so for several hours.
* Allowing passengers to leave a sealed plane is typically a long process and may (depending on the situation and airport) involve the cancellation of the flight (which airlines are financially incentivized to avoid) or the plane losing its place in the increasingly long line of flights waiting to depart.
* Passengers often have checked luggage that takes a long time to unload and be delivered (a notoriously slow process).
* When a full flight's worth of passengers suddenly need ground transportation to the same place, there is sometimes not enough ground transportation readily available to transport them and their luggage.
* Passengers arriving at another airport via ground transportation and wishing to board a connecting flight would need to pass through security checkpoints and hand over their luggage again, further delaying the process.
* Driving will probably require navigating through a maze of planes and cars
The plane appears to have 14 passenger windows on one side, a moderate number associated with a narrow-body / single-aisle commercial aircraft (likely with 4 seats per row - seating around 56 passengers and around 4 crew). A plane of this size is more likely to fit on a wide road or under any overpass built for large trucks, compared to a large airliner with possibly hundreds of passengers. Smaller planes are also more commonly used for local flights with fewer passengers. It is possible that the destination is only 70 miles away by road (likely a nearby city of at least moderate size or else the plane would be smaller). Roads around airports are often crowded, but the poor weather may have reduced traffic to and from the airport, or the pilots may be counting on smaller vehicles staying out of their way. If the public roads are viable and local law enforcement does not interfere (or allows the plane to proceed due to jurisdictional confusion), then the largest practical obstacles may be exiting the first airport and entering the second. Large airports restrict access to the tarmac, and since the pilots intend to respect air traffic control's decision to prohibit flight, they would either need several people on the ground to open major gates, or would need to ram at least one sufficiently weak gate or fence at each end.

It is possible that this comic is depicting a heavily simplified {{w|Embraer E-Jet family | Embraer E-170}}, which has 19 windows on each side.

==Transcript==
:[A plane is at an airport gate, connected to the jet bridge going into an extensive building with many dark windows facing out towards the plane. There are several other ground vehicles nearby, one towing two empty wagons for luggage, and related equipment that includes several small traffic cones placed strategically around the plane. In the space behind the plane there is another, unoccupied, gate with a jet bridge extending from the building.]
:[A voice emanates from the plane, with a speech line starting at a star burst on top of the plane's cabin. The voice makes it clear that this is the captain speaking through the internal public address system:]
:Captain's voice: This is your captain speaking. As you've probably noticed, we're still grounded due to weather
:Captain's voice: But the first officer and I have been looking at bridge clearance maps and our top taxiing speed, and we have an idea.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Aviation]]