Weather & Technical Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

[Finger66]

28c with a light NE breeze. Cape Verde definitely has more positives than ever today!

 

[White Heather]

Later today we should have gales. Right now the wind is 150 12 knots, so pretty much straight down the runway, but low Vis procedures are in order as it would seem visibility isn't great and if the glideslope is knackered on 14, and there's a 12knt tailwind on 32, then its not looking good even if the braking action is acceptable.

 

[lbaspotter]

The earlier diverted Wizz Air A321, HA-LTF was due to re position from Liverpool to Leeds, but his flight-plan has been canceled.
Instead its now positioning Liverpool directly back to Warsaw empty.

 

[White Heather]

Whether or not the 14 glideslope is fixed, I wouldn't know, but the Ryanair FR156 from DUB has just landed at 1235 on 14..

Looks like the EMA-LBA is diverting to Dublin. Maybe braking action isnt good enough for a landing?

I suspect a combination of low visibility, U/S glideslope and poor braking action. The FR156 from Dublin has just landed though on 14.

 

[michael]

When I looked at the forecast yesterday the wind was going to be down the runway.

It used to take 20 minutes to do one sweep of the runway. If the snow is still falling then it isn't usually enough.

The snow stopped over an hour ago now and really there is no good reason the airport shouldn't be open now.

It's also possibly worth noting that this snow this morning was heavy both from a 'falling' point of view and also a 'consistency' point of view. It was like super glue, it stuck to everything, it was really heavy wet stuff. I've never worked at the airport but not only would the runway and taxi ways be to clear but also the equipment would be covered and anything manual would have been awkward to handle. Additionally the de-icing equipment would have had its work cut out this morning as this snow would not simply have blown off the aircraft like drier dusty snow would do. It's also possible important external equipment like antennas might have been affected by the snow.
Anyway, it's 15c tomorrow so it'll all be gone and we'll all be in shorts!!!

 

[lbaspotter]

The must have been a runway surface improvement ad Ryanair Boeing 737-800, EI-DYL has just become the first arrival to land inbound from Dublin as “RYR459R”

 

[LBAYORKIE]

The earlier diverted Wizz Air A321, HA-LTF was due to re position from Liverpool to Leeds, but his flight-plan has been canceled.
Instead its now positioning Liverpool directly back to Warsaw empty.

They normally file a flight plan to LBA from the diversion airfield but normally just fly straight back to the origin airport empty.

 

[Len Fish]

From the Daily Mail online:

 

[Sputnik1]

I can't speak for the runways and taxiway but on the apron, vehicles were clearing the top layer of snow and leaving compacted ice beneath. Was covered again not 2 minutes later. Ramp was littered with stuck equipment. All snow clearing vehicles were in use, from rigs to handheld sweepers. If it hadn't have rained, delays would've been much worse.

 

[LBAYORKIE]

Whether or not the 14 glideslope is fixed, I wouldn't know, but the Ryanair FR156 from DUB has just landed at 1235 on 14..


I suspect a combination of low visibility, U/S glideslope and poor braking action. The FR156 from Dublin has just landed though on 14.

Waiting as I am at Malaga, I would be interested to know if the ILS is working yet. Tks.

 

[Jetchaser]

Heard that EDI and NCL having problems too.

 

[White Heather]

Waiting as I am at Malaga, I would be interested to know if the ILS is working yet. Tks.

Everything's landing ok now so guess it is. Possibly a fault caused by the compacted wet snow and ice on the equipment?

If you're on the Ryanair tonight back from AGP to LBA, the flight out of Leeds is scheduled to depart at 1740

 

[quik123]

ILS glideslode equipment like that at LBA relies on a large section of flat ground in front of the aerial array. The radio signals from the aerials are reflected off this area to form the correct radio beam pattern out at distance. When there is heavy snowfall that sits in this area it artificially raises the reflective area and the beam is no longer correct. The monitoring systems in the equipment detect this and switch off the equipment. I'm not at the airport but I bet this was what happened (it happens regularly in heavy snow). Nothing you can do except wait for the thaw. There was once a Head of ATC who wanted to put tractors out to clear the snow. Anyone who knows the land at LBA will appreciate that they would have just sunk!

 

[jason1-11]

Everything's landing ok now so guess it is. Possibly a fault caused by the compacted wet snow and ice on the equipment?

If you're on the Ryanair tonight back from AGP to LBA, the flight out of Leeds is scheduled to depart at 1740

As per FR24, up until 16:25, we'd only had one arrival all day and that was ~4 hours ago.

 

[Seasider]

LS272 from ALC o/h Bradford, hopefully will be able to land.

 

[White Heather]

LS272 from ALC o/h Bradford, hopefully will be able to land.

It did.

As per FR24, up until 16:25, we'd only had one arrival all day and that was ~4 hours ago.

That one flight was 'everything' . Jet2 just landed from ALC and a few more due in the next hour.

 

[Aviador]

ILS glideslode equipment like that at LBA relies on a large section of flat ground in front of the aerial array. The radio signals from the aerials are reflected off this area to form the correct radio beam pattern out at distance. When there is heavy snowfall that sits in this area it artificially raises the reflective area and the beam is no longer correct. The monitoring systems in the equipment detect this and switch off the equipment. I'm not at the airport but I bet this was what happened (it happens regularly in heavy snow). Nothing you can do except wait for the thaw. There was once a Head of ATC who wanted to put tractors out to clear the snow. Anyone who knows the land at LBA will appreciate that they would have just sunk!

Interesting stuff. What happens at other airports and what do they do differently that allows them to continue operating in similar conditions? Do they use different equipment?

 

[LBAYORKIE]

Everything's landing ok now so guess it is. Possibly a fault caused by the compacted wet snow and ice on the equipment?

If you're on the Ryanair tonight back from AGP to LBA, the flight out of Leeds is scheduled to depart at 1740

Many Thanks. Actually just landed on the LS flight.

 

[White Heather]

Many Thanks. Actually just landed on the LS flight.

Just watched you land on FR24, closely followed by the Ryanair from Faro and Wizz from Bucharest.

The LUFC flight to CWL has had its departure time put back to 1830 ,(estimated). Whether that's anything to do with the aircraft, or a delay in the Leeds club getting to the airport, who knows. You'd assume the Multiflight apron is now clear, and the weather at CWL looks ok with wind 220 at 10 knots.

Update: Finally departed at 1856.

Talking of wind, it hasn't materialised at LBA yet. Where's it gone? Is that delayed too?

 

[quik123]

Interesting stuff. What happens at other airports and what do they do differently that allows them to continue operating in similar conditions? Do they use different equipment?

I'm not sure what others do. No they don't have different kit. LBA has same as most other UK airports, Heathrow, Luton Birmingham etc all have the same kit and type of aerial array. Perhaps they are able to get snow clearing kit in front of the mast without the risk of damaging the ground or sinking. Perhaps they have a heating solution, or maybe they just don't get that much snow. One of the differences at LBA is that the 14 Glidepath area is over the road tunnel, so the ground there is only a few feet deep and it doesn't drain well.