Heathrow/London ATC

[CAT3C AUTOLAND]

Just a quick note.

I am fairly new to operating out of Heathrow, but I have to make a comment on how well I thought LATTC handled yesterdays storms on getting us guys in and out of Heathrow. I am sure it is all in a a days work for you guys, it sounded most impressive and thanks. I am sure I speak for a number of pilots when I say that :ok: .

Oh, and the lady on clearance delivery must of had the patience of a saint, with aircraft after to aircraft wanting to know where they were in the queue one after the other :ugh: .

Thanks again.

[CAT3C AUTOLAND]

Well, that says it all, had a similar picture on the NAV display from the weather radar in front of me :eek:.

[Julian Hensey]

Well Bristol airport got shut down for an hour after being struck by lightning and losing power. and the news stories start to roll in from UK.

"A BUNGALOW was left severely damaged by a lightning strike as dramatic storms swept across Suffolk yesterday. Lightning blasted a large hole in the roof of one bungalow, causing a serious blaze, while an adjoining property suffered a minor strike. Assistant Divisional Officer Pat Dacey said: “There must have been a hell of a bang.”............

[Julian Hensey]

Some stats.

Number of strikes per minute in rank order.

1 19-06-2007 17:12 340
2 19-06-2007 17:11 335
3 19-06-2007 17:46 328
4 19-06-2007 17:14 322
5 19-06-2007 17:04 313

Third most active day in last three years by number of strikes.

3 19-06-2007 42839

and for most active hours over last three years comes in at numbers 1 & 3. (Feel like Murray Walker here.... and that is it..the winner is...)

1 19-06-2007 17:00-18:00 14696
2 28-06-2005 16:00-17:00 12585
3 19-06-2007 18:00-19:00 9165

Thanks to www.isleofwightweather.co.uk (http://www.isleofwightweather.co.uk) for that lot.

[point5]

I got out of delivery just in time yesterday. The moment I handed it over almost everyone was issued a lovely slot time and the heavens opened. Departures wasn't much fun either - lining folk up for departure only to have the radar guys ringing up to stop all northbounds, or stop all southbounds. We had minimum departure intervals on every route, the most severe of which was 1 DVR departure every 10mins. Was certainly the most demanding day since the move to the NVCR and EFPS. Anyway, today looks a little more promising.

[AlanM]

Never seen a LCY Dover departure north of Stansted by 10 miles going north at FL120! Chaos in the DVR area.

[Serenity]

I must add a huge thanks to the air traffic staff for yesterday aswell. As said, the Dover area was a nightmare. A/c wanting to turn left, right and centre and i would imagine causing atc a complete headache, i know i was one!
also the French atc were very helpful.
cheers!

[Gonzo]

I tell you it was murder at the pub yesterday. We even had to move inside when it started to rain.

[Callsign Kilo]

The guys at LHR and West Drayton seem a fantastic bunch. I was lucky enough to visit last week and see things from a pilot's perspective. They are certainly faced with a challenging task, no matter what the weather is doing. I can only imagine that yesterdays TS's within the LTMA caused absolute chaos. I was at LHR yesterday, waiting to head back to GLA when the heavens opened and the lightning struck. There were a couple of go-arounds on 09L and arrivals and departures were seemingly suspended for several minutes - AT PEAK TIME. Hard work for all concerned, so well done to the boys and girls looking after the skys over London.

[sidtheesexist]

IMHO The LHR/LONDON ATC boys and gals are the best in the world - imagine the chaos that would ensue on a daily basis without their professional competence. I am not worthy!!!

[flyer4life]

Would just to like add my thanks to London Control and LGW Director. I returned early evening and was constantly asking for wx avoidance well away from the usual arrival routes. Excellent job by ATC as usual, streaks ahead of the rest of the world. It must be one of the few things remaining in the UK we can be proud of! :ok:

[5milesbaby]

point 5, I was the planner for DVR when 1 in 10 happenned, and thank christ it did, I think of all the dep's our way only 5 in the 90 mins I was there actually flew in our airspace!!!! The best I worked was the EGLF in that came north thro VEULE still at FL430!! All I can say is thankyou to everyone involved, we all worked our best and did what we could, the lass on TC East around 9pm was working her butt off - special thanks to her and she still kept some sanity! Everyone worked well, it shows that when it all goes t!ts up any bickers just get put away - all I can say is thanks and good job, that includes Brest, Paris, Reims, Maastrict, and Brussels, it wasn't easy.

Gonzo, it was murder in the Swanwick local too when we all pitched up after we finished, but at least I got a free beer from the WM :E

[anotherthing]

We got a beer (each) from the WM in the TC local too..... pleasantly surprised as I was expecting one beer, 40 straws!!