Aviation Appreciation Station

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Now that I'm back home. Here's a few shots from around the various airports from my trip to Las Vegas:

CRJ705 with what I believe is a 767 in the background at YYT (yes we flew from Halifax to St. John's because of the storm)


This was the best shot I could get, An124 in YYZ


Air Canada Rouge 767


I believe this is an American Airlines 737, the old school livery is playing tricks on my eyes


Southwest 737's




AeroMexico


Delta MD-90


Cool livery on the Southwest 737


Central Mountain Air Beech 1900D


Dreamliner 787


A few 777s


Embrear E190


Classic Dash 8-100


Another 777


Sunrise on a 787 in YYZ


United Express E170/175


US Airways Express E170 in YHZ (note the snow, boo)


Porter Q400


My car... apparently the Quality Inn doesn't maintain or service their lots. Pleased I was not. At least we weren't the car next to us with the window open :S

[Acey]

Paint on that funky Southwest bird is the flag of Maryland repping their big operation at BWI

[GoinAllTheWay]

Wow Maritime.......after all the crap you went through, how did you not completely snap after seeing your car like that? That's unreal.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Wow Maritime.......after all the crap you went through, how did you not completely snap after seeing your car like that? That's unreal.

When I get the time to actually write down all the crap I went through, I'll post the coles notes version on here.

That said, my wife said to me "I've never seen you that angry before". It's true, I was too livid to speak.

[Madman]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

When I get the time to actually write down all the crap I went through, I'll post the coles notes version on here.

That said, my wife said to me "I've never seen you that angry before". It's true, I was too livid to speak.

[speede5]

This is so effin' cool.

https://twitter.com/SkiesMag/status/...319744/photo/1

[carbonrod]

Originally Posted by speede5

This is so effin' cool.

https://twitter.com/SkiesMag/status/...319744/photo/1

Wow.

[photon]

Bigger:

[KelVarnsen]

@AirCanada: Confirms AC624, YYZ-YHZ exited runway upon landing at Halifax. All passengers have deplaned, going to terminal. More updates to come.

Weather in Halifax is windy.

CYHZ 290414Z 34024G33KT 3/4SM R14/P6000FT/U -SN DRSN BKN010 OVC018 M06/M07 A2965 RMK SF7SC1 SLP046

[Acey]

Now at least 23 sent to hospital. Twitter picture of it looking like Last of Us type post-apocalyptic stuff.



I hate armchair piloting but I'm going to anyway. Tough conditions. Dunno what runway they landed on but they'd need 32 with that wind and it doesn't have an ILS, meaning you need 1 mile vis to shoot an RNAV approach. So with vis at 3/4 mile I'm hoping they didn't try to land on 23 with the wind 340 at 24 gusting 33... looks like they did some turns in the hold waiting for RNAV minimums on 32. Go to your damn alternate, guys.

[Acey]

It will be the second hull loss of the week for the A320... fin 214, a 1991 build. Seems kinda old, but there's at least a dozen older than her in AC's fleet.

[Ryan Coke]

Acey, I'll question on your "go to the damn alternate" comment. Based on what?

Of course I/we know very few details, but you said in your post the weather was above limits to do the approach, and the winds were strong but nothing crazy if landing on 32. Now I don't know what the runway conditions were but you didn't mention them either. I don't see, based on very limited info, why it was crazy to try the approach.

Of course, based on what happened, something obviously did go very wrong. And maybe you're right, it should never have been attempted. But I just don't see how it was a no brainer based on the info you mentioned.

[Bigtime]

According to the AvHerald they were landing on 05.

[sa226]

Understandably it is human nature to want to "armchair quarterback" and it is kind of fun to try and piece things together.

But in my opinion if you are connected in any way to the industry, it is unfair to those affected to do so. We have very few details of what happened, and the few details we do have are not confirmed.

Some things to note. Depending on a few factors, given the weather it is likely all approaches were usable. RWY 23 would have been a tailwind. The greatest crosswind component on the field would have been roughly 26kts at the max gust of 33kts. Crosswinds like that are not at all uncommon across Canada and not at all outside the limitations of many aircraft.


While we may be able to lean one way or another on possible causes, it is unfair to the process and those affected to do exactly that.

[Bigtime]

Agreed, the final report on this will no doubt make for some interesting reading that hopefully all in the industry take the time to do.

[Acey]

Originally Posted by Ryan Coke

Acey, I'll question on your "go to the damn alternate" comment. Based on what?

Of course I/we know very few details, but you said in your post the weather was above limits to do the approach, and the winds were strong but nothing crazy if landing on 32. Now I don't know what the runway conditions were but you didn't mention them either. I don't see, based on very limited info, why it was crazy to try the approach.

Of course, based on what happened, something obviously did go very wrong. And maybe you're right, it should never have been attempted. But I just don't see how it was a no brainer based on the info you mentioned.

Yeah that is a post I should not have made. Looks like they landed 05, so under A320's crosswind limit of 38. I'm looking for official RSC, but I haven't yet found it; definitely contaminated is all I've found. I'm not explicitly saying they should have gone to their alternate, more-so just alluding to the significant number of crashes caused by "get-there-itis"...

Originally Posted by sa226

The greatest crosswind component on the field would have been roughly 26kts at the max gust of 33kts. Crosswinds like that are not at all uncommon across Canada and not at all outside the limitations of many aircraft.

That is very close to A320's limit, and I know for a fact some SOP's lower that limit if RSC or vis is as bad as it was.

[Bigtime]

RSC report is all well and good, the whole touching down 250m short of the runway kind of negates its effects though...

[Acey]

Well that's why I didn't think it was a factor in the accident so I didn't initially mention it. But it may or may not have affected their decision to attempt the approach, I guess.

[Ryan Coke]

Yeah, totally fair Acey.

I definitely agree with the idea of if in doubt, go to the alternate. I just don't see anything so far that makes the idea of trying the approach as particularly unusual. The result of the approach sure is though. It will be interesting to find out where things went bad and why.

Glad nobody is seriously hurt.

[Bigtime]

According to a tweet from Airlineroute this morning:

WestJet to operate Boeing 767 on Calgary - Toronto route from 02AUG15, once a day (5 weekly from 04SEP15)

I do believe these flights are serving a dual purpose of crew training and ETOPS certification (in preparation for the AB-Hawaii flights). Even though the flights are over land they are operated as if they are flying over an ocean.

Edit: One more tweet, during the winter season as they fly the AB-Hawaii routes:

WestJet's Boeing 767 will continue to operate Calgary - Toronto route during winter season from 25OCT15 to 29MAR16, 4 times a week