View Full Version : Airprox at Heathrow?
DaveReidUK
4th Jan 2019, 08:21
... or just a radar processing glitch ?
This, from Heathrow's own WebTrak system, appears to show an extremely close encounter between an Air Canada 737 MAX and a Swiss CSeries on converging tracks inbound to LHR:
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/571x400/20181230_080543_94f167e9f057c8f995985e072c30179ae47b3e0a.jpg
Heathrow WebTrak (https://webtrak.emsbk.com/lhr4)
Given that it's from last weekend, it would no doubt have been all over the media by now had it actually occurred, so presumably it's an artifact from NATS' radars.
Cany anyone account for what might have caused it ?
HEATHROW DIRECTOR
4th Jan 2019, 09:35
Only 49 ft apart. Wow, they're packing them in nowadays.
Packer27L
4th Jan 2019, 11:18
Surely a processing glitch. TCAS would not permit them to get that close, not to mention the keen-eyed ATCOs at Swanwick nor the mk1 pilot eyeball.
Pretty sure that's a Webtrack error, SWR35B (LX352 GVA-LHR) was already on the ground by this time. No record of a SWR5717 or any other Swiss flights from GVA-LHR on that day around that time on the usual sites. It's not a LHR callsign/flight number that I recognise, nor does it appear on FR24 or other ADS-B tracker sites that I can see.
DaveReidUK
4th Jan 2019, 21:34
Pretty sure that's a Webtrack error, SWR35B (LX352 GVA-LHR) was already on the ground by this time. No record of a SWR5717 or any other Swiss flights from GVA-LHR on that day around that time on the usual sites. It's not a LHR callsign/flight number that I recognise, nor does it appear on FR24 or other ADS-B tracker sites that I can see.
Quite so. It would also be rather unusual to see a GVA-LHR flight on an Ockham STAR for 27s, as in this case.
Still showing on WebTrak as I write - drilling down shows the mystery flight as being operated by HB-JBB, the same aircraft that landed as LX352 20 minutes previously.
Very strange, I'll see if Heathrow can shed any light on it.
HEATHROW DIRECTOR
5th Jan 2019, 06:54
Forget it Dave. I trust Gonzo far more than all the on-line "radar".
DaveReidUK
5th Jan 2019, 09:16
Forget it Dave. I trust Gonzo far more than all the on-line "radar".
I do, too.
The strange thing is that we're not talking here about FR24-type "radar" (i.e. crowd-sourced ADS-B), with all its limitations. Instead, it's the official Heathrow Airport flight monitoring website powered by data from NATS radars.
Heathrow tells us:
The flight data for Webtrak is taken directly from the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) radar that is used to direct aircraft at Heathrow. The accuracy of the system has been verified by the Civil Aviation Authority and by independent Dutch company NLR.
See Heathrow - track flights on maps (https://www.heathrow.com/noise/what-you-can-do/track-flights-on-maps)
Notwithstanding the above endorsement, it's certainly not unknown for WebTrak to miss flights completely (a BA DUB departure and a UA EWR arrival in recent weeks, for example), but I can't remember any previous occasion where an entirely fictitious flight has been shown, as in this case.
Hence my professional curiosity as to what might have caused it. :O
chevvron
5th Jan 2019, 09:38
I do, too.
The strange thing is that we're not talking here about FR24-type "radar" (i.e. crowd-sourced ADS-B), with all its limitations. Instead, it's the official Heathrow Airport flight monitoring website powered by data from NATS radars.
Heathrow tells us:
See Heathrow - track flights on maps (https://www.heathrow.com/noise/what-you-can-do/track-flights-on-maps)
Notwithstanding the above endorsement, it's certainly not unknown for WebTrak to miss flights completely (a BA DUB departure and a UA EWR arrival in recent weeks, for example), but I can't remember any previous occasion where an entirely fictitious flight has been shown, as in this case.
Hence my professional curiosity as to what might have caused it. :O
Another one of Putin's little tricks; I'm convinced the Gatwick drone was one too.
He's got egg on his face after the Salisbury poisonings so he's trying to get back at us by economic means.