View Full Version : Squawk 3773 / AAL109
airsmiles
28th Mar 2012, 18:35
Could anyone explain the 3773 squawk being used by AAL109 currently dumping fuel near Land's End? I thought this code was Gatwick Approach?
BTW: It's now decended from FL130 to FL100 and has left the hold heading South-West. That';s a very odd thing to do in the circumstances isn't it?
airsmiles
HEATHROW DIRECTOR
28th Mar 2012, 18:39
But you don't know what the circumstances are. Maybe he needs to dump more fuel and is taking a longer routeing. I'm sure that everyone involved knows what they are doing...
airsmiles
28th Mar 2012, 18:41
I'm sure they do know but I was just interested, especially the odd squawk code.
Thanks though.
HEATHROW DIRECTOR
28th Mar 2012, 18:45
American Airlines web site suggests that all is well. It took off from Heathrow at 4.59pm and is on schedule at destination..
eastern wiseguy
28th Mar 2012, 19:03
What is "odd" with the squawk?
Daysleeper
28th Mar 2012, 19:14
American Airlines web site suggests that all is well. It took off from Heathrow at 4.59pm and is on schedule at destination..
As long as that destination is London then they are probably right...otherwise, not.
HEATHROW DIRECTOR
28th Mar 2012, 19:22
Apologies. I typed the wrong flt no into the AA site. It says AAL109 was cancelled..
airsmiles
28th Mar 2012, 19:44
What is "odd" with the squawk?
It's in my original post. A Gatwick squawk being used for an a/c holding over Land's End and returning to Heathrow. These days squawk 7700 pops up so often I'm surprised that wasn't used.
No matter as they landed safely which is all that matters.
Talkdownman
28th Mar 2012, 19:48
UK SSR Code Assignment Plan shows A3773 as allocated to Western Radar, and not Gatwick.
vespasia
28th Mar 2012, 21:55
UK SSR Code Assignment Plan shows A3773 as allocated to Western Radar, and not Gatwick.
Correct, definitely not one of ours:)
Andy Mayes
29th Mar 2012, 05:09
Has anyone else noticed that Georgia145 only ever uses parts of other peoples posts? For example, HD has already said:American Airlines web site suggests that all is well.
And all his/her previous posts in other areas of the forum are copies of previous posts.
Gonzo
29th Mar 2012, 07:09
Georgia145 and it's ilk are bots.......there's a thread about them in the Computer Issues forum.
AlanM on the other hand is a real person.............
I believe the aircraft had an A\C unit failure on departure from EGLL, burn't fuel (Not dumped as it's a 757) and then returned to EGLL via Hazel - OCK.
Standard Noise
30th Mar 2012, 16:09
Do Western Radar work? Is AlanM a real person?
Questions from the unanswerable pile...................:}
055166k
3rd Apr 2012, 10:03
"Standard" you cheeky monkey! Yes Western Radar do work.
3773 is one of ours. We provide ATSOCAS from FL70 to FL195 [FL245 in an active TRA].....excluding controlled airspace as the ATSOCAS description suggests. Difficult to describe our area in a short sentence....but basically Anglesey to REXAM to Brize to Bournemouth to Jersey Zone boundary west of ORTAC then along UK FIR boundary to south of LND then across to Shannon boundary then up the boundary towards LIFFY [but not quite up to LIFFY] to Anglesey. We accommodate airtests as well as a selection of "regulars" for whom no controlled airspace option exists....such as Gloucester, Newquay or some Exeter routes.
Service provider is NATS [civilian staff].
***airsmiles: if there is no urgency why not dump over the sea.....and if you can't dump, use a lower level to burn it off a little quicker......and if possible you give the aircraft a massive block of airspace with no other traffic.
airsmiles
3rd Apr 2012, 16:25
055166k. No reason at all not to use what's available to you. I was just taking a friendly interest in what was going on.