Weather & Technical Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

Thanks for that.

A post on the fruit board says the rw 27 ILS had been close to tolerance all afternoon but exceeded it around 1700 hours hence the closure. As surmised, weather minima on 09 was below allowable limits.

Apart from being stuck on top of a 600 foot hill the short Bristol runway undulates as well. From the west it goes downhill a bit before climbing to a noticeable peak before disappearing out of sight down another slope before it ends in the face of a big drop of falling land, still within the airport boundary.

Pilots on the fruit board have said many times it can be very challenging with the winds that often feature together with the limited and rollercoaster runway.

This topic was very much to the fore when the runway resurfacing closure debacle occurred three years ago.

Fortunately, in all the times I've sat in the back down the years I've been blissfully unaware of the hard work that must have been going on up front on some occasions, although once I thought the wing was about to strike the ground after one particularly bouncy and twisty approach. That was a Britannia Airways Boeing 737-200 over twenty years ago.

 

[Aviador]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

The runway at Bristol sounds just like the runway at Leeds.

once I thought the wing was about to strike the ground after one particularly bouncy and twisty approach. That was a Britannia Airways Boeing 737-200 over twenty years ago.

I think the pilots have a professional term for that... "it's sporty"

This is the only decent image I can find of the runway at BRS, It clearly shows the undulating characteristics of the runway.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/4 ... loons1.jpg

 

[backtrack]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

Jeezzz thats worse than Leeds!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

It's not quite as steep as the foreshortening in the photo makes it look, but the runway is a bit of a rollercoaster nonetheless.

It's especially galling because this is what the Bristol Airport runway would have been if councillors had made a better decision fifty years ago when relocating from the famous wartime Whitchurch Airport.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bristolair ... 858095464/

Even Filton's runway is not flat, though it is only just above 200 feet elevation with a much better weather record, and while its runway length of 2467 metres (8094 feet) is not massive it is much better than Lulsgate (BRS). However, its width is an impressive 91 metres (299 feet).

Filton is close to the M4/M5 interchange with a main line railway nearby and a branch line running through its site. What might have been............................

A little known fact is that at the time of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis (the closest the world has so far come to a Third World War) Vulcan bombers were held in readiness at Filton, presumably armed with nuclear weapons.

 

[Aviador]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

METAR: EGGD 131750Z 18027G39KT 9999 -RA FEW008 BKN010 14/12 Q0990
long-TAF: EGGD 131707Z 1318/1418 19025G40KT 6000 RA SCT007 BKN009 TEMPO 1318/1408 19032G50KT PROB40 TEMPO 1318/1322 3000 +RA BKN003 BECMG 1400/1403 9999 NSW SCT020 TEMPO 1403/1412 6000 SHRA PROB30 TEMPO 1403/1409 3000 +SHRA BKN012CB BECMG 1409/1412 27020KT BECMG 1415/1418 23009KT

Possible gusts to 50 Knots, that's a bit wild so expect some delays & cancellations! :shok: Other airports locally aren't going to be fairing much better.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

1915 hours

All ok so far but another 19 arrivals are due this evening. I wonder what are the odds against them all getting in.

This was the sort of weather that persisted for several days when the runway was being resurfaced three winters ago, and eventually led to total closure of the airport for a day.

The airport was really a bit unlucky because had 'normal' weather (and normal for BRS is invariably windy but not always wet and wild) occurred at that time they might have got away without problems.

As it was aircraft were sliding all over the place in the build-up of water and in the strong winds.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

2300 hours

I live about nine miles from the airport, not quite as high as BRS's 600-plus foot elevation but still in a high and exposed part. The wind has been fierce and the rain for the most part torrential and relentless all evening.

However, all aircraft have managed to get into BRS. As I type only three remain this evening: a delayed Ryanair B738 from Dublin; a Hamburg International A319 from Banjul and a Thomson B 752 from Tenerife. The only glitch was the mid-evening easyJet A319 from Newcastle that landed at Cardiff. However, it repositioned to BRS within the hour and has now returned to the North East, presumably with its northbound passengers.

Given the appalling weather it is a testament to the outstanding skill of all the flight crews that they all managed to land at BRS this evening, an airport that can be challenging when conditions are much better than tonight so I have been told by some who know from firsthand experience.

 

[Aviador]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

Was there any crosswind component last night do you know. I don't remember what the runway heading at Bristol is but the wind was 190' degrees.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

The runways are almost due west and due east (27 and 09) which means that he airport was operating last night with a near cross wind. I believe after the runway debacle of three winters ago some airlines reduced company maxima for cross-wind landings at BRS but that may have been a temporary measure.

Because of the wind and driving rain I hadn't heard any aircraft all evening. When they take off from 09 some fly quite near our house and we hear them on climb out, whilst landing aircraft on 27 are rarely heard even though some fly very close to the house.

Before I went to bed (around 2330) I looked outside and the sky had cleared (only temporarily) and I saw what must have been the Ryanair from Dublin on approach to 27 - didn't hear it though until I went outside.

I am still very surprised that there weren't a number of diversions last night and again I hold out my hat to the flight crews. They certainly earned their money last night. Even the AF ATR 72 got in as did one of the ASW Dash 8s - don't know what happened to the one from LBA, it was never shown on the web arrivals page as having landed. Perhaps it's still up there flying round :nea: .

 

[Aviador]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

Ryanair reduced their crosswind limits when they started to get the new 737-800's with winglets.

 

[Aviador]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

Brace yourselves down there! It looks like it's the South West's turn for the snow later today according to the latest weather forecast. Notably the weathermen have covered themselves by saying "it could rain, sleet or snow", so they have covered any eventuality.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

The Bristol area was affected late last night when snow and freezing temperatures closed the airport for two hours either side of midnight.

The snow crept up on the forecasters - no-one was expecting as much though it wasn't that great a quantity in truth - but the combination of the white stuff and the severe freezing temperatures on top of the hill on which BRS sits caused the problems.

Nine inbounds were diverted last night, mainly easyJet, to BHX, CWL and LTN. Six outbounds were cancelled this morning, including four easyJets.

The airport has been experiencing cancellations throughout the weekend because of snowbound airports elsewhere in the UK and in Europe.

On a personal note my son and his family together with friends managed to get off this morning on the 0930 TOM to Sharm el Sheikh, only 17 mins late according to the departure board. They were naturally concerned about getting there because, apart from the airport's troubles, Bristol itself ground to a halt this morning with ice and snow on the roads - again not a huge amount of snow but it was so cold the salt was re-freezing.

Forecast this afternoon cannot make up its mind whether we shall get snow or if we do how much.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

The airport has remained open all day and all evening but easyJet has cancelled eleven rotations:
Belfast Int, Krakow, Glasgow (x 2), Palma, Amsterdam, Madrid, Milan Malpensa, Edinburgh, Rome and Berlin Schoenfeld.

I know that some northern European airports have had major problems but not all.

Ryanair by contrast has cancelled no flights some of which have been to eastern Europe and one to Milan Bergamo, whereas easyJet cancelled its Milan (Malpensa) flight.

The only other cancellations I am aware of have been the evening Air France to CDG and, for some reason, Air Southwest 307 from Manchester went straight to Plymouth whilst the company 487 from Leeds-Bradford due around the same time landed 38 minutes late at 2023.

A few diversions came in during the early evening including a TOM service from Gran Canaria to Gatwick. It's still on the apron some five hours later (presumably the passengers have been taken on by road) and the apron website shows it as an A321, G-OOPH.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

Snow

The heavy snow that has been affecting much of the country is yet to arrive at BRS though there have been heavy falls during the day within twenty miles or so in the Cotswolds and in Wiltshire.

BRS is forecast to have heavy snow overnight and it should have arrived by now but fortunately it hasn't.

Only four or five arrivals now due for the rest of the evening although a TCX from TFS due at 0330 might be unlucky.

In fact, the airport is now taking diversions from Gatwick (currently closed for snow clearance) with a Viking flight from Sharm el Sheikh and three easyJets (from Lisbon, Geneva and Helsinki) having arrived in the last half hour, and another easyJet from Malaga to Gatwick due imminently.

I hope they can get out to Gatwick this evening because they could be snowbound in the morning if they stay at BRS.

Already the morning Air Southwest flights to LBA and MAN are showing as cancelled tomorrow but that is probably more to do with problems elsewhere.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

Bristol Airport had eight diversions, including three easyJet A320s, in last night following snow closures elsewhere, as follows:

19:13 G-TCBA TCX591L Tenerife-Birmingham
22:18 G-EZTH EZY5606 Geneva-Gatwick (First visit for a EZY A320!)
22:21 SE-RHX VIK 122 Sharm el Sheikh-Gatwick
22:22 G-EZIS EZY2236 Malpensa-Luton
22:27 G-EZEW EZY5360 Vienna-Gatwick
22:29 G-TTOI EZY8968 Helsinki-Gatwick
22:40 G-TTOJ EZY8720 Lisbon-Gatwick
23:12 G-EZDO EZY8612 Malaga-Gatwick

Acknowledgement for this information is made to Andy Dunnett on the BISON website message board, via the below link.

http://www.biagrouponline.co.uk/forums/ ... 85c8830b63

Bristol is now shut itself following the arrival of the forecast heavy overnight snow.

Re-opening time is being pushed back from 1000 to 1200 (vide local radio) to 1400 which is now the time showing on the airport's website.

Most flights have been cancelled although one or two charters seem to be hoping for better conditions later.

Very light snow has been falling intermittently for most of the morning where I live which is about seven miles from the airport.

 

[Aviador]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

Sounds like fun and games then, well for us and the airport not for the passengers of course.

How much snow has fallen overnight then? Was it any where near the predicted levels? Or was it the usual over reaction of the weather forecasters?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

Not quite as much as was forecast - 20cm in Wiltshire, the worst affected, and about half that in Bristol itself, though the airport was probably more seriously affected than the city because of its rural location and elevation.

Supposedly the worst in this area since 1981 though as nothing compared with 62/63 when the snow lay in the country lanes around Bristol to hedge top level for over two months, during which time the temperature never rose above freezing - and that was here in the normally relatively mild West Country.

I fear we are no longer able to cope as we did. First cancelled ALL their city services in Bristol this morning, though a private operator that operates some of the same routes carried on and ran to time - I know as they pass near to my house.

As I type the sun is trying to come out but tonight is predicted to freeze hard - down to minus 10C and nearly as low in the city centre.

I suspect there may be some problems at BRS tomorrow if they are right.

Airport now saying they are hoping to open at 1500 hours. We shall see.

 

[Aviador]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

Many airports are using dated snow clearing equipment that is more than 20 years old. Most airports don't see it as cost effective to spend millions of pounds on the latest state of art snow clearing machines that may or may not be used. I wonder if the latest snowfalls will influence future decisions.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

Airport re-opened around 1500 hours today.

However, easyJet cancelled all 27 rotations today, including at least ten that were scheduled to depart after the airport re-opened.

In contrast Ryanair sent off seven departures after the runway re-opened.

OLT, Eastern, Air Southwest and Thomson also sent out departures after 1500 and Brussels Airlines is about to land with a return to Brussels this evening.

I cannot understand easyJet's policy. I accept that some crews might have struggled to reach the airport (though not apparently in Ryanair's case) but aircraft were all in place on the ground as all inbounds arrived last night and have been nowhere since.

 

[Aviador]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

Lot's of flights delayed until tomorrow from Chambery.

The Bristol Airport website arrivals page actually says of its TOM flight from Chambery - delayed until 10/1/2010 - snow. It might be snow at the Bristol end that will be the problem tomorrow.

The same goes for Leeds. Apparently Chambery has had some severe snow storms today. I'm told the runway there has underground heating so things should return to normal quickly so long as things don't go belly-up over here tomorrow with the forecast snow.