Weather & Technical Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

[BlueManc]

EK2504 A6-EUY estimated dep 0545 (20th)

 

[Birmingham Aviation]

EK2504 A6-EUY estimated dep 0545 (20th)

Bet u we’re begging to post this

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Bet u we’re begging to post this

?

 

[Birmingham Aviation]

?

What I meant was .I think he was super excited to announce this.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

What I meant was .I think he was super excited to announce this.

I'm still confused. Why would BlueManc be 'super excited' to announce the positioning flight of the EK A380 (A6-EUY, which should have operated the cancelled EK service from MAN - DXB), from BHX to DXB)? I'm sure that like the rest of us, BlueManc's concerns are with passengers booked on that service, getting to their destinations as soon as possible.

 

[BlueManc]

I'm also confused. Thought I was just being helpful. Didn't want someone to be making a trip when it's long gone.

 

[RichL]

Did it leave empty or did they bus all the passengers down from Manchester for it?

 

[Scania1800]

Did it leave empty or did they bus all the passengers down from Manchester for it?

All passengers were sent to Manchester via coach, along with baggage. People on EK22 are offered an alternative emirates flight to dubai from Manchester

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Several aircraft currently holding, although METAR is giving visibility as 2200m.
Aircraft are landing. I think it's just extra spacing due to low visibility procedures (LVP's) at a busy time.

 

[Land23R]

Several aircraft currently holding, although METAR is giving visibility as 2200m.
Aircraft are landing. I think it's just extra spacing due to low visibility procedures (LVP's) at a busy time.

3 of your flights diverted to MAN earlier - not all the wide bodies you got from us Thursday though. TOM815; EZY191 and RYR6335.
2 at least positioned back to BHX, possibly all 3.

 

[pianokeys]

Appears we have a CWL diversion D-AASH DH8D of Avanti Air from Biarritz. Looks like fog problems. Not sure why he didn’t go to BRS who are showing as clear.
……and Villa have just landed back after a good win at Southampton.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

3 of your flights diverted to MAN earlier - not all the wide bodies you got from us Thursday though. TOM815; EZY191 and RYR6335.
2 at least positioned back to BHX, possibly all 3.

Thanks for the info. I just happened to look in on FR24 at around 10:15 am to see several aircraft holding (including BY815, G-TUIL - which was positioning back from MAN). Hope everyone got to their destination without too much delay.
Looking at FR24, it appears that 4 flights (BY815 G-TUIL from BGI, EZY18DR G-EZTT from BFS, RYR6UC SP-RZA from SOF and EI3640 EI-GPN from BHD) diverted to MAN. From what I can make out from FR24, only the Aer Lingus flight didn't position back to BHX.

 

[HPsauce]

I was surprised to hear of these aircraft having to divert away from BHX. I Passed through the airport on route to Solihull at around 8.45am and it was clear, sunny weather. Solihull, which is only 3 miles away, was bight sunshine all day.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

I remember many years ago, I had gone to BHX (Sat or Sun morning) as the south east was shrouded in fog, yet BHX sat under a glorious blue sky.
There had been several diversions from LHR and LGW. Around midday, a fog bank appeared to the west of BHX (the other side of the A45) and slowly rolled in to envelope the airport.There were no more flights that day. Weather like this can change quickly, especially when the temperature and dew point are very close.

 

[rollo]

In addition to yesterdays diverted DH8D from Cardiff we also saw an Air Tanker A332 diverted in from Espargos which later departed to its original destination of Brize Norton.

 

[pianokeys]

I was surprised to hear of these aircraft having to divert away from BHX. I Passed through the airport on route to Solihull at around 8.45am and it was clear, sunny weather. Solihull, which is only 3 miles away, was bight sunshine all day.

Yes me too, especially the Dreamliner. There was some good knockabout views recently on the Leeds diversion thread about airline policy of the requirements to divert and if the Captain has the final decision, if and to where. I guess there would be multiple factors not least the Category of the ILS at the time, the compatibility of the aircraft, and the rating of the crew. Scheduling may be implicated too ?

I remember many years ago, I had gone to BHX (Sat or Sun morning) as the south east was shrouded in fog, yet BHX sat under a glorious blue sky.
There had been several diversions from LHR and LGW. Around midday, a fog bank appeared to the west of BHX (the other side of the A45) and slowly rolled in to envelope the airport.There were no more flights that day. Weather like this can change quickly, especially when the temperature and dew point are very close.

Likewise, some years ago in similar conditions at BHX, with shallow fog covering the measuring equipment (transmissometers ?) one approaching aircraft reported the airfield was ‘wide open’ and the runway and Cat 3 approach lights fully visible to complete his landing, but because the RVR given was not acceptable he had to divert. Company rule book in precedence here with no discretion allowed perhaps.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

in similar conditions at BHX, with shallow fog covering the measuring equipment (transmissometers ?) one approaching aircraft reported the airfield was ‘wide open’ and the runway and Cat 3 approach lights fully visible to complete his landing, but because the RVR given was not acceptable he had to divert. Company rule book in precedence here with no discretion allowed perhaps.

I don't think it has anything to do with the 'company rule book' in this case. More likely, legal requirements. If the airline is CAA registered, it will be accountable to the rules set out by the CAA. If the pilots are told that conditions are below minimums, they cannot land, other than in a dire emergency. If they were to do so, it would probably result in the pilots losing their licences and the airline receiving a hefty fine. Likewise, if a foreign registered airline were to attempt similar, they may well find themselves banned from UK airspace.
Once visibility drops below a certain level, it becomes IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) only and visual approaches are not allowed.

 

[Timberwolf]

Dense fog at Heathrow this morning for hours, but nothing diverted and only 15 min landing delays.Airport is an efficient machine in bad weather .
Sure BHX would have volunteered to take any divs, yet fog diverts from LHR these days are near non existent.

 

[Scania1800]

Dense fog at Heathrow this morning for hours, but nothing diverted and only 15 min landing delays.Airport is an efficient machine in bad weather .
Sure BHX would have volunteered to take any divs, yet fog diverts from LHR these days are near non existent.

LGW is a different story though

 

[mullion]

Kevin I once remember a similar problem at MAN which turned out to be a spiders web over the equipment
which said it was foggy yet it was about 10K viz