Air Travel Delays

[Mark Gobell]

I was wondering if the Heathrow, domestic, short haul only fog and the M11 Stanstead delays are related to the last time we had major airport delays ?

Just a thought.

[PaulStott]

BA certainly do not seem to be making much effort - why not wait to see if the weather improves, and in the meantime launch as many flights as you can?

[Newspeak International]

Seems incredulous a spot of fog should effect such problems, in the high tech 21st century!

[Mark Gobell]

Sky News this morning:

"We all know about the high tech instruments that you can see on a planes flight deck and so you may be wondering why flights have to be cancelled but the one thing these pilots like to do is to look out of the window"

Planes fly and land at night too don't they.

[scubadiver]

Plenty of planes have crashed because of bad weather. There is nothing better than a pilot's own eyes.

I saw the picture of the radar tower at Heathrow on the BBC this morning and the fog can't be more than twenty five metres.

[marky 54]

i believe the fog would'nt hamper take of or flying to the location, it would give problems when trying to land however and would be risky. if you miss the runway or land on it wrongly due to poor visibility the results would be devastating.

[scubadiver]

http://www.usairnet.com/encyclopedia/Tenerife_disaster.html

[marky 54]

ah maybe take off is a problem to.

[paulrobins]

i think all these delays are pointless, planes land and take off in adverse weather around the world everyday, my girlfriend landed in Canada when it was -35 degrees, the technology on these aircraft means they don't need visuals to land and take off gps does all the work,and there was technology in WWII that cleared fog off runways. it could be a case of being safe than sorry but i still think the delays are unnecessary!

[Newspeak International]

Good points you raised there Paul, only highlights the dubious nature of these cancellations.

Especially considering Heathrow has no mountains to negociate around.

[paul wright]

I'll put most things down to them, including freedom of travel, or their ultimate opposition to its availability. But somehow I doubt the fog's haarped. Let's not dwell on this too long

[Newspeak International]

Of course you're right dh

fin

[Graham]

why only BA flights too?

[wepmob2000]

Its not just BA, BMI, Lufthansa, and Air France are also affected. The reason for the cancellations is very straightforward, in clear conditions the airliners have to maintain a minimum 3 mile separation for safety, in foggy conditions this is doubled to 6 miles, in much the same principle as on the roads. Heathrow is the worst affected because there is an aircraft landing or departing roughly every minute, all maintaining the minimum separation distance and no more (to maximise the use of the airport). Naturally if you double the separation distance you effectively halve the number of flights.

By and large only domestic flights and those to Paris and Brussels are affected, because it was sensibly decided there are readily available other means of transport to these destinations. Long haul flights are generally unaffected. Naturally BA is the main carrier operating domestic flights from Heathrow, hence the disproportionate amount of BA cancellations.

Hope this helps?

[telecasterisation]

It is a great shame we don't have far more fog.

When you consider that drivers are encouraged to buy smaller more efficient vehicles, then you hear that a new runway is to be built at Heathrow, or this or that airport is to be expanded! The fewer flights the better.

Everyone should be limited to one outward bound and one return flight a year, no exceptions. Outdoor Christmas decorations that invlove electricity should be banned too - when you consider all those flashing lights and illuminated snowmen drawing power off the national grid and for what? It is not as if anyone benefits from them being on your roof or out in the garden.

We are not serious about reducing pollution, we just play at it.

[Emmanuel]

FOG or chemtrails? I saw a lot of spraying today in the blue skies of Sheffield . A lovely very clear afternoon but as we got to Leicester total heavy fog. Very hard to drive through such mist too!
Its rather timely too.

[paul wright]

The only Hegelian reason for creation of deep fog at this time would be the reinforcement of the argument for another runway. This seems to be counter to the current environmentalist prevalence.

Sheffield has a big problem with chemtrails? Get yourself a cloudbuster and towerbusting protocol is my advice

[Emmanuel]

Thanks for reminding me DH!
I would like to team up with any other people who have experience with making these chembusters.
I have read the instructions, but accuracy is really not my strength. Anybody having a chembusting day out sometime in the north? Thanks

[Ignatz]

[marky 54]

[telecasterisation]

The only reason that I know of to cause fog is an area of high pressure that stops the moisture from rising. This creates like a bubble inside which the moisture is compressed - this is fog.

If you look at satellite images of the recent high pressure area, this stretched some 400 miles into Europe and much of the UK - unless this chemtrail spraying was over a considerable area, it is simply a natural manifestation.

Add to this, who would benefit financially from the disruption and be behind 'deliberate' fog? Tent manufacturers around airports got together and contacted 'Chemtrails 'R' Us' via Yellow Pages?

[blackcat]

[kc]

Heathrow gets exactly the same type of fog in 12 month intervals? Cool!

[iro]

taking off in fog is easy, landing is incredibly risky and must be done by blind faith in computer guidance - hence the reluctance for pilots to do it.

thats what the pilot in my plane yesterday said... thankfully mine flew and i made it home.

it was not chemtrails - how madly conspiratorial do you have to be to come up with that nonsense. has anyone EVER seen chemtrails at that intensity at ground level before... is it possible? - what possible gain could anyone have from this situation except some far fetched thinly spread paraniod delusion of a reason. it was fog.

* happens and a lot of time its in the lap of the gods. too many people in these circles are so off axis they instantly look for blame for everything on shadow conspirators. grow up.

[paul wright]