View Full Version : PA28-like aircraft above Paddington - in London TMA?
hegemon88
4th Mar 2015, 17:28
Hello,
Does anybody know, is it possible that I just spotted a light aircraft flying to and fro in London TMA (or London CTR at best, couldn't judge the altitude) or is it more likely that I suffered from an optical illusion? Time approx. 1740Z, track approx. NW-bound, then SE-bound, decisive turns rather than a racetrack pattern. Didn't show on flightradar24.com.
Ideas, anyone?
/h88
HEATHROW DIRECTOR
4th Mar 2015, 17:34
Would there be anything unusual about that?
hegemon88
4th Mar 2015, 17:43
HD, negative. It's just that I've never seen it before and thought it must be rare. And curiosity got the better of me.
Weird one that. The CTA is now class D but why you would be pottering about in maybe a PA28 over London below 2,500 is beyond me. Unless you were thinking about putting it in Hyde Park if the donk stopped. :)
hegemon88
4th Mar 2015, 18:48
In all fairness, the aircraft could have been larger and higher than I initially thought.
treadigraph
4th Mar 2015, 20:35
Possibly a PA-34, one often used for aerial photography over London when the weather is good - I usually get an email from the photographer, but haven't been at work today.
ChickenHouse
5th Mar 2015, 07:57
What would be so astonishing about a light aircraft crossing a CTR ???
squidie
5th Mar 2015, 10:06
Could just be flying IFR, PIC could have an IR that’s all. As long as it’s equipped for IFR and the PIC is Instrument Rated it’s legal and normal.
I’m presuming that airspace is Class A? Then if not then the A/C would be receiving a Control Service.
MrAverage
5th Mar 2015, 11:40
Single engine over Paddington would be illegal unless in the TMA at a height sufficient to glide clear of the built up area. Hyde Park is neither clear of the built up area nor clear of people, although I guess thing was joking!
alexgreyhead
10th Mar 2015, 17:51
Damn, MrAverage beat me to it - the requirement to land clear still applies no matter what for single engined a/c, as far as I know?
My FI told me of a microlight pilot who obtained an SVFR clearance across the end of the London City Airport CTA a while back and on landing at Biggin (I think it was?) he found himself on the business end of an investigation which resulted in a stiff fine.
Sillert,V.I.
10th Mar 2015, 18:28
My FI told me of a microlight pilot who obtained an SVFR clearance across the end of the London City Airport CTA a while back and on landing at Biggin (I think it was?) he found himself on the business end of an investigation which resulted in a stiff fine.
Just because ATC will issue you a clearance doesn't make it legal to fly it.
Back in the day, a blind eye was generally taken to this sort of thing, but times are different now.
I have an unforgettable memory of flying along Oxford Street at 1700ft in a PA-38, at night on an SVFR clearance - but that was many moons ago, when such things seemed to be tolerated. On another dark night I was given vectors across the west side of LHR at very low level, and was slightly horrified after being handed off over Marlow at having to climb to join the Wycombe circuit.