Weather & Technical Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

[Aviador]

That 'promised' snow

Got away quite lightly in the end. Had a smattering of snow overnight and some is still lying around but it didn't seem to affect the airport according to its web departure and arrivals pages.

We watched the weather radar on the Chrome 'Rain Alarm' and it skimmed the side of Leeds. York had a couple of inches or so looking at our local BBC news report.

 

[big g]

Thomson 737-800 G-TAWA has just diverted to BRS due fog in CWL.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Thomson 737-800 G-TAWA has just diverted to BRS due fog in CWL.

I believe it was a day trip to Krakow from Cardiff for an educational schools visit to Auschwitz.

This morning the compliment seems to have been returned with the morning Aer Lingus Regional from Dublin and KLM Cityhopper from Amsterdam both diverting to CWL, and the Eastern from Aberdeen/Leeds-Bradford also divertting - to Exeter? That's where it seems to go when it can't get in at BRS.

I see now that the morning Flybe from Belfast City has also diverted - to Cardiff?

The easyJets and Ryanairs all seem to have landed though despite the mist and fog - the Cat 3b is a boon on such days and it's lucky the wind today supports rw 27.

The bmiRegional (for Brussels Airlines) E145 from Brussels and the Airlinair (Air France) ATR 72 from Paris Cdg have now landed so visibility must be improving to permit the non-Cat3 equipped aircraft to land.

 

[Aviador]

Is it just runway 27 which is fitted with CAT3b at Bristol or is it fitted on the other end too? For those airports which only have autoland on one end the wind can be mischievous on some days and blow the wrong way when it's foggy!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Is it just runway 27 which is fitted with CAT3b at Bristol or is it fitted on the other end too? For those airports which only have autoland on one end the wind can be mischievous on some days and blow the wrong way when it's foggy!

Yes, only 27 with 3b.

The reciprocal 09 cannot be so equipped because of the topography of the surrounding land.

As you say, there can be problems when the wind is from the wrong direction.

Following on from this morning's diversions, both Blue Islands rotations from Jersey cancelled today (presumably because of weather either at BRS or JER) and the teatime Eastern from LBA went to Exeter as well, but since then everything seems to be landing.

 

[big g]

It sure was a quiet day!

With regards to the Ryanairs and easy jets landed are due to the equipment on board, both airlines minimums RVR (Runway Visual Range) are 150m Fly be are 300m and blue island like it to be between 800m to 1000m, today the lowest I had seen were 225m.

I'm not sure what Air France, BMI & KLM RVR's are but I have seen them land under 250m.

The second Blue island was canceled due to Fog in JER.

I have seen some small non catIII Aircraft hold over head till a large jet is on approach then tuck up behind them to land due the the jet dispersing the fog for a short while.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I have seen some small non catIII Aircraft hold over head till a large jet is on approach then tuck up behind them to land due the the jet dispersing the fog for a short while.

I like that.

Conjures up a vision of a little Jetstream being towed in by a 737.

Oh crikey don't give MOL ideas. It could be a nice little earner for his airline. Would just need a long tow rope and a cowboy standing on the tail of the Boeing to lasso the nose of the Jetstream.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Friday 24 February 2012

Two Blue Islands rotations from Jersey, one Flybe rotation from Jersey and one Aurigny rotation from Guernsey all cancelled due to continuing fog (all day again) in the Channel Islands.

The teatime and mid evening Eastern flights from LBA/ABZ diverted to Exeter because of mist/fog at BRS though, so far, everything else seems to have got in.

Cardiff has been badly affected by fog this afternoon and evening and several inbounds had to divert to other airports, including a KLM Cityhopper into BRS (the Manx2 from Anglesey to Cardiff went into Filton).

 

[Aviador]

I have seen some small non catIII Aircraft hold over head till a large jet is on approach then tuck up behind them to land due the the jet dispersing the fog for a short while.

I like that.

Conjures up a vision of a little Jetstream being towed in by a 737.

Oh crikey don't give MOL ideas. It could be a nice little earner for his airline. Would just need a long tow rope and a cowboy standing on the tail of the Boeing to lasso the nose of the Jetstream.

Must be why Heathrow hardly ever seems to be foggy in comparison with other UK airports?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Must be why Heathrow hardly ever seems to be foggy in comparison with other UK airports?

FIDO (Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation) in World War 2 was a system whereby fuel was burnt in rows alongside RAF airfield runways in an attempt to disperse fog when aircraft were returning in the early hours (especially) from bombing raids over Germany.

I suppose the principle might be thought to be related, in a distant sort of way.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

One of those misty/foggy mornings where BRS apparently stood above the murk with the result that the lower lying CWL and Filton were affected.

Flybe from EDI and KL from AMS shown on BBC Ceefax (or whatever it's now called) as diverting from CWL into BRS, and bmiRegional from Toulouse which I presume had been heading for Filton on the 'shuttle' also touched down at BRS - BRS apron website showed it as an ERJ145 which I believe is the equipment used at Filton by this airline.

It will be interesting to see what happens to these industry flights from Filton when that runway closes at the end of this year.

 

[big g]

Yesterday was an interesting few hours with the diverts!Mlucklynthe fog cleared around 0830 as earlier it was as low as 150m and close to stopping some of the early morning departures.

Diversions:

TLS-FZO BMI RJ145, pax bussed to BRS and operated on to CPG
AMS-CWL KLM F70, ferried back to CWL empty.
EDI-CWL Flybe Dash8, ferried back to EDI empty.
NCL-CWL Easton Airways Jetstreem, pax bussed to BRS and operated back to NCL

There was an RAF Herculies circling and over head and did 5 low passes before returning to Brize Norton, also an easy jet executed a missed approach dur to the fog drifting in and out though the morning.

Looks like today will be another interesting one with CWL and EXT both down to 200m visibility.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

This sort of thing shows that it's not all one way when fog puts in an appearance.

We often hear criticism of the BRS weather record, albeit the Cat 3 has gone a long way to overcoming many of the problems though not all of course, but some people either aren't aware of or choose to ignore the fact that in some weather conditions BRS is open whilst other lower-lying airports are fog-bound and no other civil airport in the South West or in South Wales has Cat 3 ILS.

I've heard it said smugly that some don't need it - well, here's the reason they do and it's not a one-off occurrence by any means as the past few days all too clearly demonstrate.

Incidentally, there were local media reports that traffic conditions around the airport on Thursday morning were chaotic following a fatal road accident on the A38 a mile or so north of BRS during the early hours which meant the road was still closed during the morning rush hour for accident investigation purposes.

There are no obvious speedy diversion routes.

 

[conns757]

Nqy and Boh both have cat3.

Fatality at the old jet garage early hours of Thursday.

I heard 19 year old high speed car crash. Poor chap - RIP.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Thanks conns757.

I knew about BOH but regard it as a south coast airport though of course Bournemouth is officially in that giant government region of the South West with Cheltenham nearly as close to the Scottish border as it is to the far end of the region in Cornwall.

I wasn't aware of Newquay's Cat 3 but I suppose I should have been. Presumably it was installed for the military.

As for the RTA, RIP indeed and every condolence to those who are left.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Monday 12 March 2012

Mist/fog in the Bristol area again today and BRS partly affected this morning.

Early morning Aer Lingus Regional and Ryanair both from Dublin went to Birmingham, as did the mid morning bmiRegional (for Brussels Airlines) from Brussels.

The Helvetic from Zurich was delayed because of the weather and by the time CWL opened in late morning (closed to arrivals earlier because of the fog/mist) the Helvetic arrived there over two hours late and, from reading BRS arrivals/departures, instead of returning via BRS to Zurich it flew to ZRH direct from CWL, presumably with the BRS-ZRH passengers already on board.

The morning Blue Islands from Jersey was cancelled - not sure whether because of weather (whether at BRS or JER) or for another reason.

So far as I can see everythingelse arrived today.

 

[big g]

Monday 12 March 2012

Mist/fog in the Bristol area again today and BRS partly affected this morning.

Early morning Aer Lingus Regional and Ryanair both from Dublin went to Birmingham, as did the mid morning bmiRegional (for Brussels Airlines) from Brussels.

The Helvetic from Zurich was delayed because of the weather and by the time CWL opened in late morning (closed to arrivals earlier because of the fog/mist) the Helvetic arrived there over two hours late and, from reading BRS arrivals/departures, instead of returning via BRS to Zurich it flew to ZRH direct from CWL, presumably with the BRS-ZRH passengers already on board.

The morning Blue Islands from Jersey was cancelled - not sure whether because of weather (whether at BRS or JER) or for another reason.

So far as I can see everythingelse arrived today.

The fog was bad this morning, down to 100m at one point.

The Helvetic did take the BRS pax via CWL to try and make up time, the Blue Island was cancelled due to the fog in BRS.

An interesting day with a lot of A/C holding over head for over an hour.

 

[Aviador]

Hmm, this anti cyclone weather isn't much fun at this time of the year when the sun isn't strong enough to break through the fog or low cloud.

Bring on summer! :dance:

 

[big g]

Hmm, this anti cyclone weather isn't much fun at this time of the year when the sun isn't strong enough to break through the fog or low cloud.

Bring on summer! :dance:

Oh I dunno I like both the winter and summer for different reasons. The winter for the snow and fog as you never know what's going to happen hour by hour, and the summer for the French and Spanish ATC delays ,But you can predict what's going to happen as most of the time, ATC slots are generally spot on, also being on the ramp in a shirt catching some sun.

And I shouldn't forget the stag do's Now they are a laugh to watch!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Tuesday 13 March 2012

Absolute pea-souper all day around BRS. The entire Bristol area was affected by the fog but the airport weather was such that I was surprised that so many aircraft landed even with the Cat 3b. I went past at 1130 when the fog was dense and again at 1530 when it was only marginally better.

I was suppose it was fortunate that the easterly wind was so light that runway 27 could be used downwind with its Cat 3b. Then again a much stronger wind might have dispersed some of the fog.

According the the BRS website the followingwere diverted or cancelled:

Ryanair BGY and morning DUB to BHX

Eastern ABZ/LBA (2) to EXT

Aer Lingus Regional ORK and (1) DUB to CWL, and (1) DUB cancelled

Flybe Isle of Man to EXT, Belfast City to BHX and JER cancelled

bmiRegional (for Brussels Airlines) BRU (2) to BHX and BRU (1) cancelled

Air France CDG (1) to LHR though more likely passengers put on a LHR flight and (1) cancelled

Blue Islands JER (2) cancelled