Airprox at Heathrow?
Thread Starter
Airprox at Heathrow?
... 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:
Heathrow WebTrak
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 ?
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:
Heathrow WebTrak
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 ?
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: LHR/EGLL
Age: 45
Posts: 4,392
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
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.
Thread Starter
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.
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.
Thread Starter
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
He's got egg on his face after the Salisbury poisonings so he's trying to get back at us by economic means.
