Wake Turbulence and Separation
Aircraft are categorized by ICAO according to the wake turbulence they produce. Because wake turbulence is generally related to the weight of an aircraft, these categories are based on one of four weight categories: light, medium, heavy, and super.
Due to their weight, all current widebody aircraft are categorized as heavy, or in the case of the A380 in U.S. airspace, super.
The wake-turbulence category also is used to guide the separation of aircraft. Super and heavy-category aircraft require greater separation behind them than those in other categories. In some countries, such as the United States, it is a requirement to suffix the aircraft's call sign with the word "heavy" (or super) when communicating with air traffic control in certain areas.
Read more about this topic: Wide-body Aircraft
Famous quotes containing the words wake, turbulence and/or separation:
“All night your moth-breath
Flickers among the flat pink roses. I wake to listen:
A far sea moves in my ear.”
—Sylvia Plath (1932–1963)
“their eyes still fixed, hoping to find once more,
Being by Calvary’s turbulence unsatisfied,
The uncontrollable mystery on the bestial floor.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“In a separation it is the one who is not really in love who says the more tender things.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)