Time Restriction

[Sonia767]

Hello everybody ;)

The other day when flying into Heathrow with cloudbase at 200 feet and LVP in use something the controllers were asking baffled us (my colleague and i ). Luckily it wasnt aimed for us but a couple of aircrafts ahead of us.

They were being asked as they were approaching the approach transition beacons whether they had a Time Restriction.

Have no idea what this means.Does anyone know about this...............................

Sonia :confused:

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Hi Sonia. I don't know what you mean by a "transition beacon" but I guess it's one of the main holding stacks.

Such a question might be asked early in the morning.. The night noise curfew ends at 6am but some flights can land before that. Airlines get a certain quota of flights which can operate during the night period so if ATC can determine which they are, they don't get held until 6am... when everything hits the fan!

My minimal experience as a passenger and lots of experience as a controller leads me to believe that some pilots are not aware of these restrictions. Flying into Heathrow early one morning the pilot told us pax that we'd be landing in 10 minutes, etc. I told my wife there was no way as it was only 5.30am... sure enough: "Ladies and gentleman I'm sorry but ATC are making us hold unexpectedly for 30 minutes... yak yak yak". It's NOT ATC which determines this restriction.. it's the UK government! As a controller I've also had guys half-way through the approach gaily announce they can't land for 20 minutes when they've suddenly found out!

If that's not the answer the only other thing I can think of is they were asking about how long the aircraft could hold before having to divert..

Happy holding..

[Duke of Burgundy]

Dear Sonia - The only thing I can think of is that prior to 0600 only certain aircraft are allowed to land at Heathrow according to the night landing quota for the year.

Therefore pilots are frequently asked whether or not they have a "time restriction" i.e. "are you permitted to land before 0600 or not?"

In the case of Low Visibility Procedures being in use, however, the restriction on landing before 0600 is suspended. Therefore if that was the case I am not sure why pilots would have been asked this question.

:confused: :confused:

[Sonia767]

Hi Heathrow Director,

You are right !!!!!!! Thats what the controller meant.Whether the aircrafts were allowed to land before 6 a.m. Because it was around 5.20 a.m. that we were in the air.Also yes by transitions i meant the holding beacons like Lambourne, Ockham etc :)

Also thanks Duke of B.When they were asked this i remember the cloud base was 300 feet so LVP's were not in force.However shortly after the cloud base dropped to 200 feet and then i remember everybody leaving for the approach.So i guess they lifted the 6 am ban.....

Thanks for your quick replies as this puts me out of my misery wondering what the h*** the controllers were asking.Ciao

Sonia :p