Sky News : you 'avin a larf ?
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: LHR/EGLL
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No idea. It was always an escape route in our existing tower. I asked about it once, and they said that the Coastguard down in Lee-on-Solent were the nearest.
I just hope that if we ever have to bundle out on to the roof, the cloud base is over 300ft!!!!
I just hope that if we ever have to bundle out on to the roof, the cloud base is over 300ft!!!!
Join Date: May 2000
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Wouldn't be much fun trying to get out of the new towers roof in this weather! Lets hope it never happens!
Sitting at work at the moment and the amount of R/T that is going on from the tower it seems like it should be 1230 and not 0030z! Lots of late running flights.
It will be a long night at Heathrow for some! Lets hope the weather clears, I bet most people have forgotten what LHR looks like!
Sitting at work at the moment and the amount of R/T that is going on from the tower it seems like it should be 1230 and not 0030z! Lots of late running flights.
It will be a long night at Heathrow for some! Lets hope the weather clears, I bet most people have forgotten what LHR looks like!
Death Cruiser Flight Crew
Join Date: Jun 2001
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Hurrah! Heathrow 09:20 actual shows 4900 metres and overcast at 1800 feet. Also, the temperature and dewpoint have split 03/02. A quick look at the other main UK civil airports shows that with the exception of Luton, which looks still to be on LVPs, but 'workable', and Aberdeen which has freezing fog, we're back in business!
Fingers crossed all those poor people now get to where they want to be.
Fingers crossed all those poor people now get to where they want to be.
Join Date: Nov 2000
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I really enjoyed reading through this thread. I loved the references to "Spangles Kaplinski" and poor David Learmont's usual hammering. I thought you were a bit unfair to the lady pilot (EZ or Ryan?) but there was a gallant apology later on.
Then, news that the clag is lifting and things can begin getting back to normal.
It's not only fog that can screw things up. I recall many years ago flying into EGLL in the old Brymon Herald out of Newquay. It was a Christmas flight too (Hark the Herald rings a bell) It started snowing a blizzard on short final and at (I guess) 300 feet the captain aborted and we went to Bournemouth instead thereafter to be bussed up to Heathrow.
Bournemouth was the only airfield with a reasonable length runway open from the south coast to the midlands and it was manic there. Everything was diverting there - even Laker DC10's (very impressive to watch screeching to a halt - even more impressive whilst they tried to find steps high enough to unload the passengers)
We got to Heathrow and in the space of around 4 hours (the time it took to get us from Bournemouth) the departure area was just one big queue. That's the trouble with airports. They are built on the assumption that from taxi/bus/train to boarding your aircraft is a steady progression that takes around 2 hours. When there is a hitch you suddenly have a tailback of passengers with no-where to go. They can't simply leave and go home because they may loose their tickets. There is nowhere to sit, the catering facilities are not designed to deal with a huge, static group of people and the result is chaos and misery all round.
My heartfelt sympathy goes out to all those poor souls caught in such situations, who don't understand the mechanics of airline transportation (why should they?) and who rely on whatever information is given them through an (often) unintelligable public address system.
On that occasion I was lucky. I took one look at the queue and grabbed the first taxi I could find and scooted back into London first to book a hotel and second to cross the road to the West London Air Terminal where I was lucky enough to exchange my British Airways ticket for a seat on a MEA to Beirut and a connection to Bahrain the following morning.
We took off down a corridor of banked up snow. Back in Terminal 3 the situation was really bad and monitoring the news from Bahrain after I got home, that situation did not improve for another 4-5 days.
Good luck to all of you stranded at Heathrow. I know how you feel.
Then, news that the clag is lifting and things can begin getting back to normal.
It's not only fog that can screw things up. I recall many years ago flying into EGLL in the old Brymon Herald out of Newquay. It was a Christmas flight too (Hark the Herald rings a bell) It started snowing a blizzard on short final and at (I guess) 300 feet the captain aborted and we went to Bournemouth instead thereafter to be bussed up to Heathrow.
Bournemouth was the only airfield with a reasonable length runway open from the south coast to the midlands and it was manic there. Everything was diverting there - even Laker DC10's (very impressive to watch screeching to a halt - even more impressive whilst they tried to find steps high enough to unload the passengers)
We got to Heathrow and in the space of around 4 hours (the time it took to get us from Bournemouth) the departure area was just one big queue. That's the trouble with airports. They are built on the assumption that from taxi/bus/train to boarding your aircraft is a steady progression that takes around 2 hours. When there is a hitch you suddenly have a tailback of passengers with no-where to go. They can't simply leave and go home because they may loose their tickets. There is nowhere to sit, the catering facilities are not designed to deal with a huge, static group of people and the result is chaos and misery all round.
My heartfelt sympathy goes out to all those poor souls caught in such situations, who don't understand the mechanics of airline transportation (why should they?) and who rely on whatever information is given them through an (often) unintelligable public address system.
On that occasion I was lucky. I took one look at the queue and grabbed the first taxi I could find and scooted back into London first to book a hotel and second to cross the road to the West London Air Terminal where I was lucky enough to exchange my British Airways ticket for a seat on a MEA to Beirut and a connection to Bahrain the following morning.
We took off down a corridor of banked up snow. Back in Terminal 3 the situation was really bad and monitoring the news from Bahrain after I got home, that situation did not improve for another 4-5 days.
Good luck to all of you stranded at Heathrow. I know how you feel.
Join Date: Dec 2006
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In reply to the wuestions about what makes a cat status, the kit on the ground also has to be of a certain standard. Hot standby localiser and Glidepath transmitters, Monitoring of the farfield using a chart recorder and i believe (though may be wrong) that the localiser is a 24 element array.
generally the monitoring and level of testing is higher.
We operate the same equipment in both directions, yet one is cat 3, the other is 1 (thanks to a ruddy big hill)
What ILS are LHR operating? Normark 7000 is my guess.
generally the monitoring and level of testing is higher.
We operate the same equipment in both directions, yet one is cat 3, the other is 1 (thanks to a ruddy big hill)
What ILS are LHR operating? Normark 7000 is my guess.
Join Date: Nov 2001
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Some years ago I was returning from Gatwick to Aberdeen,but ended up diverting to Glasgow because of Sea Fog,which is very common in NE Scotland.On leaving the terminal at Glasgow for the BA provided coach I passed a very angry passenger ranting away at the poor ground girl screaming ''I am going to complain to the highest level about this''!!
Just couldn't resist so I said to this eejit '' So you'll be complaining to God about the fog then''.
**** happens when you travel sometimes.Fog,snow,wind is no-ones fault.The procedures that are put in place are for peoples safety.
Just couldn't resist so I said to this eejit '' So you'll be complaining to God about the fog then''.
**** happens when you travel sometimes.Fog,snow,wind is no-ones fault.The procedures that are put in place are for peoples safety.
Join Date: Jan 2000
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From one set of flaps to another that comment had me rolling around in my hotel room for ages.......sad i know but its Christmas eve and im along way from home.
The other day i watched one of those seconds from disaster (I know I know but i was in another hotel room somewhere and was bored).
The subjuect was the JAL 123 B747 incident and for once i was impressed at the bit higher than usual level of accuracy until they said that the crew couldnt put the gear down because all the hydraulic lines were severed (true)and trying to put them down with "electric" motors also failed. At that point i turned over.
Ps Farty your right lets stick to slagging off journos as they more than deserve it,
