Anyone been to ORBI ?

[Cecco]

What are the special procedures/restrictions there? Other question: would you fly there at all??? Apparently, northern Iraq is within safety limits but Baghdad...

Waiting for your comments,
Cecco

[727Man]

No problem at all go there all the time on B727, daily. ILS 33R, or GPS Rnav 33L
American Forces Control the airspace, Iraqis control the airfield with American Controllers supervising over their shoulder.

[Cecco]

...and how about a nightstop there? Would you have any issues to enter the city?

[SNS3Guppy]

Apparently, northern Iraq is within safety limits but Baghdad...

Someone gave you bad intel. Really bad intel.

Northern Iraq still sees plenty of action, albeit not what it once was. Baghdad still has kidnappings, bombings, shootings, grenadings.

I've overnighted in Iraq many times. Then again, I've taken rocket and mortar fire while overnighting in Iraq many times, too.

I commercialed into Baghdad once, and was picked up by a driver in a heavily armored suburban. We took a different route, and when I queried, the driver mentioned that the route we normally took went under a small underpass. The previous day a vehicle suffered fatalities under the underpass, when someone standing above dropped a hand grenade on them.

Events like that are common, and not unusual.

Iraq is the kind of place one invades. Not that one stays, especially if one intends to remain "outside the wire."

What are the special procedures/restrictions there?

Not if you're flying in as a commercial operator. Standard ILS approaches.

...and how about a nightstop there? Would you have any issues to enter the city?

Issues? Yes.

[EMB170]

Recently our boss wanted to go , but not surprisingly it's outside our insurance cover and a flight in and out would have required $10000.- of insurance premium, as an one off payment. A nightstop would have been $14000.-

good luck

[Cecco]

...if the aircraft I'm flying lands in ORBI, it will be without me...

[SNS3Guppy]

Make sure you've got a second plan then. If you were flying it and the airplane lands without you, you may have much bigger problems than the landing or the question of whether to stay.

I've flown into Baghdad commercially as a passenger and as a PIC, as well as operated in and out on repositioning flights around the country, without incident. None the less, one does need to bear in mind that it's not Berlin or Paris, and it's not a safe place by any stretch of the imagination.

Landing at Baghdad is largely a non-event. I've been passing through Baghdad's airspace when traffic was sent to hold because of mortar damage to the runway (per ATC; I didn't see the damage, but it's what we were told on the radio). If you're concerned about getting shot while landing, however, I wouldn't worry too much. There aren't any unusual procedures for landing there. No steep dives, no blacked out arrivals, no tactical approaches. It's a normal, vectored ILS.

There are other places around the country, including arrivals to places "up north," where this isn't necessarily the case, and one should be particularly vigilant.

Bear in mind that with changing balances of power presently and over the next year, the hazards may elevate significantly. Iraq is a troubled place with a number of parties of interest who are quite willing to use force and violence to accomplish their individual aims.

[Chicken Leg]

Cecco,

ORBI definitely has it's risks, but it's not as bad as it once was. The above posts are generally accurate, in that you will be vectored to a standard ILS, but it the weather permits, you can ask for a visual. The benefit of this is that you can stay higher and faster than you might otherwise choose. If you're able to arrive and depart by night, all the better.

The biggest threat is that every man and his mate own AK47's and they have been know to fire at aircraft just for fun. Stay high (ideally a couple of thousand feet until as late as possible to mitigate the risk - you will have 12,000' of runway to assist you with that type of approach. On departure, carry out a climb at Vx for the same reason.

I would absolutely advise against overnighting outside of 'the wire' without professional security; even then, don't do it out of choice.

In spite of some of the above posts, some areas of the north are significantly safer than Baghdad. Erbil is considered the safest city in Iraq, but it's all relative!

If you want specific info, PM me.

[SNS3Guppy]

In spite of some of the above posts, some areas of the north are significantly safer than Baghdad. Erbil is considered the safest city in Iraq, but it's all relative!

Erbil, yes. Kirkuk, Mosul, and Tal Afar, no. Definitely, unquestionably, no.