Approach to 27L at London Heathrow

[Sultan Ismail]

I am trying to trace the last stages of a flight into 27L at LHR, here are the details:

10th November 2012

MH4 Kuala Lumpur to London

B747-400

Arrival at LHR 1556 GMT

I was in a left side window seat and picked out ground features I had never seen before, or don't recollect seeing.

Our route took us over Northern Europe and the Benelux states and then into a direct approach without holding, that was a first!

The first feature ws Biggin Hill about 10 miles off to the left followed by Twickenham Rugby ground. I couldn't see the scoreboard but I believe England were giving Fiji a trouncing with about 5 minutes to play.

The Biggin Hill Approach lights were on bright, it was after all a November afternoon going into dusk.

Looking at the STARs for 27L we could have done a Biggin or Weald approach but we didn't overfly those fields (or beacons).

My guess is we did a right turn at Waypoint TANET and road the beam to touchdown.

If I'm in the wrong place sorry!

[trident3A]

Hi see if you can find the flight here
WebTrak: Heathrow (http://webtrak.bksv.com/lhr)

[Sultan Ismail]

Trident3A

Thank you, that's exactly want I want!

The incoming track was parallel to and North of BIG 1E and WEALD 1E.

There was very little traffic in the five minutes prior to our arrival which must explain the "straight in" approach, however it built up very quickly a minute later and the Holds started getting traffic stacked.

As we passed Twickenham we were at 1,000ft and 141 knots, which is normal circuit height with the players and goalposts clearly visible.

Now to check on last years flight into Heathrow with a long hold at Lambourne.

[DaveReidUK]

The first feature ws Biggin Hill about 10 miles off to the left followed by Twickenham Rugby ground. I couldn't see the scoreboard but I believe England were giving Fiji a trouncing with about 5 minutes to play.

The Biggin Hill Approach lights were on bright, it was after all a November afternoon going into dusk.

Looking at the STARs for 27L we could have done a Biggin or Weald approach but we didn't overfly those fields (or beacons).

My guess is we did a right turn at Waypoint TANET and road the beam to touchdown.

Sorry, but MAS4 on 10th November didn't go anywhere near Biggin Hill - it came in over Essex, not Kent.

If the runway lights you saw off to your left were roughly parallel to your track, then it was probably Southend you were seeing (at the bottom left of my pic).

It looks like you were following a Lambourne arrival, but before reaching LAM you turned onto a more southerly heading at BRASO to intercept the ILS at about 18nm (roughly abeam LCY).

Edit: on reflection, you could have seen both Southend and Biggin, the latter when you were intercepting the ILS (BIG is about 10nm S of LCY, with the runway pointing more or less towards you). As a penance, if you tell me when last year's flight was, I'll see if I've got a record of it. :O

http://www.civilaircraftregisters.org/Mode_S_Resources/MAS4.jpg

[trident3A]

You are definitely in the right place for this kind of question :ok:

[Sultan Ismail]

Looking at the WebTrak, it confirms my view of Biggin Hill looking at the Approach Lights from 10 miles.
I did state we were North of the BIG 1E Approach which put us firmly into Essex, in fact the track shows us coming over Billericay and then intercepting the ILS at 18 miles.
Thanks again for pointer to the website.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

The flight you were on usually routes to LAM and only rarely to BIG.

[tomahawk_pa38]

In case you're not aware of either - try one of these ?

Casper - Live Aircraft Tracking (http://casperflights.com/)

Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker! (http://www.flightradar24.com/)