The Mrs and I have just made it back to Cork from Stansted aboard this evening's FR907. Very poor viz at Cork for most of the day meant it was low visibility approaches all round and I understand a lot of Aer Arann flights had to divert to Kerry along with a pair of bmi baby flights to Shannon along with at least one Aer Lingus flight from Birmingham.
On the final approach to Cork our Captain on the FR907 advised us we were Number 2 to another (Futura) flight for an autoland which meant a CATII approach to 17. The Futura made it in ahead of us but shortly after the RVR dropped to 250 metres and our Ryanair flight had to go around. The thing is as we climbed away you could see that the weather was fairly clear to the south of the field and it is obvious the blinking stuff hangs right over the airport and runway at Cork!
The flight took up what was a fairly northerly track following a right hand turn out after the go around and I was fearing the worst anticipating a diversion to snn but then the Captain updated the cabin we were to try one more approach at Cork and if that failed we were off to Shannon. Boy, you should have heard the sighs of resignation and angst amongst the passengers when the words diversion and Shannon were mentioned!
However, as we came down the ILS again to 17 the RVR was back up to 300 metres and there were good breaks in the cloud just north of the Bishopstown suburb before once again entering the soup as we approached the field but this time, thank God, our luck held and we touched down in low visibility to the fullsome applause of the entire cabin! However, the applause quietened quickly due to the noise of the reverse thrust and fairly strong braking that sure got people's attention again! Anyway, we were back on terra firma at Cork safe and sound even if the backtrack seemed to me to be a little wobbly but then again I was fairly jittery myself after the experience!
This ILS business has to be sorted out once and for all at Cork. Firstly, why are there no intermediate RVR readings at 275 metres at Cork between 250 metres and 300 metres? Everywhere else has it so why not Cork? Why is this? This measurement would be bound to help crews in getting another indication of how the trends are going with the RVRs.
Secondly, the pressure must be increased to have a CATIIIA ILS at Cork to finally resolve this long outstanding matter. We must take it for granted that FR and EI pilots all receive routine training and qualification to CATIII standard. It is high time that the people in charge at the Cork Airport Authority must be brought to book and made accountable and quizzed why there appears to be so little obvious local support for a CATIII project at our local aiport which the CAA are more than happy to remind us all of it's now so called international standards.
By the way, the EI727 from BHX never did make it back to Cork in spite of two tries so Sunday evening's EI844 to Schiphol was eventually due to operate from Shannon at 2345 hours. Imagine how people aboard that flight must feel tonight and the '845 pax at SPL!