PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - QR777 not obeying North Atlantic Tracks ?
Old 28th Mar 2016, 03:15
  #33 (permalink)  
+TSRA
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
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No disrespect to Dutch Mill, but this is the exact problem with sites like FR24, Flight Aware and the like. They allow spotters to take their hobby to a level that can be considered interference with the professional level. They allow the layperson to know too much about flight operations without any background information.

For example, my mom once watched my youngest sister take a flight from YYZ to AMS. About 150 miles from YYT both FR24 and Flight Aware showed them suddenly on approach to BOS. My mom panicked and even though all my rational explanations about lack of radar coverage, bad data, the system not knowing what to do with itself, she still wanted to call KLM to find out why they were landing in Boston. You can imagine what she did when the damned thing dropped right off her screen saying "No Data." I can only imagine what she would have done had she had the same level of knowledge shown here.

Now...to this report from Dutch Mill. Unfortunately, the flip side to this "helpful hand" is that someone at NavCanada will actually have to respond to this report. There is no way that a report just gets dumped in today's world. It will have to go through their SMS. So instead of someone in Ottawa examining a runway incursion that has serious safety implications, that someone will have to take their time to investigate this report. No doubt it will be filled under "monitor for reoccurrence" but even that still requires a look back over any data, a look at the rules, the clearance given, etc. A total waste of time for a non-event.

Someone said before that a little information is bad. Unfortunately with aviation spotters (and I say this being a former spotter turned career) is that many think they have all the information because they read a book, go to the airport and listen on a scanner to then go home and play flight simulator. They then think they are justified in filing what they feel is a safety report or otherwise telling professionals they did a good/bad job.

But you're not. I don't tell you how to do your job or how well you're doing it, so don't do it to me...or any of the people I work with.

Please, enjoy your hobby. That's how many of us got into the profession in the first place. But keep it a hobby. Don't start interfering with the process because you 'think' you know better or 'want to help.' You may unwittingly cause more harm than good.

My god...apparently I had something to get off my chest!
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