Aeroflot and Fedex
 

FLYIN THE SKY
What do expect at a busy airfield when approaching a crossing point of a rwy, go straight across without any holding.
we have 4 crossing points ,and expect to cross 4 acft in a 3 mile landing interval. we have now lost 1 main crossing point due work . If you could see what we have to do as GMC/AIR CONTROLLERS to get you across with minimal delay.
That part of your post is a contempt on a group of people trying to do their best to keep the traffic moving under less than ideal circumstances

Why are a number of BE domestic flights canx today?

Looks like an overnight powercut is causing problems for the whole airport.

Looks like FlyBe have cancelled most of their morning programme including those aircraft coming in from other bases. One or two other inbound delays. Inbounds were nearly stopped due to lack of parking positions as most of the first wave outbounds had still not gone.

A couple of US inbounds are delayed but not sure whether this is because of a late departure from the States or they have diverted somewhere. As usual when there is an incident, the flight info on the web site is very slow or not available.:bored:

Just what you don't need at this time of year. Anyone know what the cause was?

Suzeman

From the BBC :

BA Heathrow arrivals from Manchester (at 0930) :

08:25 BA1385 MANCHESTER DELAYED Terminal One
09:25 BA1387 MANCHESTER CANCELLED Terminal One
11:00 BA1389 MANCHESTER CANCELLED Terminal One
12:20 BA1391 MANCHESTER DELAYED Terminal One
14:25 BA1395 MANCHESTER CANCELLED Terminal One

does the "airport spokeswoman" have the faintest idea what she is talking about ?

Does it gove a time this quote was mad?

Also, the passengers on connecting flights won't be too pleased when they arrive at LHR. Missed a flight and had their bags lost all in one morning!;)

Does it gove a time this quote was mad?

mufc are you auditioning for a part in Allo Allo? Lol

Ian

Full details of the Manchester airport power problems.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/m...er/6934435.stm

Electricity and water do not make a good partnership!

Sorry.

If the quote was made before the cancellations took place then you can hardly blame her. She was working on the information she had been given.

But if they had already been cancelled then obviously she wasn't receiving the right info.

As happens in this type of situation, the flight info on the website has reverted to emergency mode. This shows some interesting things

Firstly the SAS flight from CPH is showing as arrived but its BD code-share is showing as cancelled. Nice trick if you can do it. I know the flight did operate.

Secondly the terminal names shown seem to be a bit outdated - Terminal 1 International and still Terminal 3 British Airways........:ooh:

Suzeman

Yes, it wasnt a very nice morning for us on the ground (T3). 16 BE flights canx between 0600-0900. All of the London BA routes and BMI routes too. Funnily enough BMI decided to board the Baby flight to BFS, got all the pax on then realised they didnt want the flight to leave without it being full and off they came. Normality restored in some form albeit delays about 0900 in T3. Luckily BE have several flights a day to nearly all destinations so they wernt as stuck as they could have been should there only have been 1 rotation. On the whole rather chaotic in the check in hall and airside but a job well done by all staff from every airline. :ok::D

OPNOT

my comments regarding sitting at the hold awaiting crossing clearance were directed at a previous posting who raised a query. I am well aware of the constraints that are placed on movement by the design of the airfield.

wrt my 'contempt'!

I have a very good acquaintance in the tower and have the utmost respect for those guys. Please read my post carefully. It is directed at the lack of design and investment NOT a group of people.

Flyinthesky

Power to the people... or not
 

Why no back up generator?

Also hear that the doors to areas on air bridges where you need to swipe through locked shut... what would have happened in one of these 'sealed' areas ?

I also am amazed that a failure in one location (apparently in an office building) caused loss of power supply to all three terminals.

Whoever did the electrical circuit design must have had to do it on the ultra-cheap with no redundancy or other consideration of maintaining supply. This is straightforward Building Services power circuit design, especially in such a significant structure as a major airport.

I bet it was in the bottom of the Tower Block, a building that hasn't seen much investment in recent years.

When maintenance budgets were cut, one of the first maintenance routines to go was the regular checks that the backup batteries are holding their charge. They're there for when there's a power cut.

I leave you, dear reader, to work out the rest of this sorry tale for yourself...

Same tale as last time the power went out at T3. Shambles because the backup didn't.

Power failure was a consequence of a flood in Olympic House, nothing to do with the Tower Block, thats where the sorry tale started!

MAN Taxiways etc
 

Leaving aside the hot topic of power cuts if I may, and getting back to the earlier debate about MAN's airfield facilites. I can assure 'flyinthesky' and others that there are people within MAG who fully recognise the limitations of the airfield infrastructure and are lobbying hard to steer policy and investment towards tackling the issues, and not just putting in more shops. It can't have escaped everyone's notice that a huge amount of money is currently being spent on re-building the northern taxiway network, with considerable disruption as a result. This project has been going on for nearly 2 years and is a major departure from the piecemeal repair works of the past. The new pavements going down are 50% thicker and thereby 50% stronger than those they replace, and have been designed to the wheeltracks of the largest aircraft - A380, A340-600, B777-300. Alignment, markings and lighting have all been improved as we go. The works currently in progress at crossing link Delta are adding a fillet which enables large aircraft to make the turn onto it from Kilo - eliminating one of many frustrating constraints which are a legacy of a taxiway network designed around the old three runway layout of the 1940s-1960s.
Looking ahead, there are proposals under the Airfield Master Plan to re-construct and realign Taxiway Alpha as part of a new dual-parallel taxiway route running to the north of 05L-23R. Dual parallel routes will also feature on the 'caravan route' into T2, although several options are under consideration at this time. Numerous other small improvements will be made to remove constraints and smooth the flow of ground traffic. With this will come a complete re-designation of all taxiways to provide a simpler, more logical system where designations 'A/B/C etc' will be applied in a grid fashion and hence there will be no more 'long and winding roads' a la Taxiway Alpha and Delta. There are people in MAG who care about these things and listen to what pilots and ATC say. Make sure you have a representative at the Flight Operations Safety Commitee (FLOPSC) etc, and have your say direct to those who can make a difference!

And on top of all yesterday's woes, this happened - not seen it reported before. From UK Airport News

07.08.07
No flights were allowed to take off from Blackpool, Liverpool and Manchester airports between 06:00 and 06:55 today after problems at Air Traffic Control in West Drayton. Manchester Airport was the least affected of the three, because it was also suffering a power outage.
The problem was cleared up and the airspace re-opened at 07:30, but a spokesman said there would be knock on effects 'for the rest of the day'. Passengers at all three airports 'should turn up as normal', but expect delays of up to two hours

So what was all that about?

Suzeman