Diverted due to fog/weather concerns in YYC apparantly.
Not apparently. I have just driven from Canmore back to Edmonton and it is very thick fog in spots (the worst was close to the airport), with rain, snow, freezing rain, freezing drizzle, freezing fog mixed in with it.
I just talked to my sister in Kelowna who was about to make her third trip to the airport there to pick-up a friend who has been stranded in YYC most of the afternoon and evening because Westjet could not get out!!
Hmmmm, strange, almost looks like they were over YYC, and then had to turn back to YXE. Funny how AC seems to avoid YEG at all costs, eh PunishedEdmontonian , even though YEG would have been a far less risky station for an A330 to operate from.
Not apparently. I have just driven from Canmore back to Edmonton and it is very thick fog in spots (the worst was close to the airport), with rain, snow, freezing rain, freezing drizzle, freezing fog mixed in with it.
Oh, I spoke too soon ;-) Still seems a bit bizarre that they added an extra 2 hours on the LHR-YYC segment, must have been cutting fairly deep into the fuel reserves. Good thing the crew didn't time out -- on LHR-YYC, they would have some crew augmentation, right?
YEG was probably only marginally better and only because it was more snow than freezing rain. The highway, as we went past YEG, was not great and the ceiling may have been below alternate limits. He likely burned his holding fuel waiting for YYC to get better and then had to go for the sure thing.
Hmmmm, strange, almost looks like they were over YYC, and then had to turn back to YXE. Funny how AC seems to avoid YEG at all costs, eh PunishedEdmontonian , even though YEG would have been a far less risky station for an A330 to operate from.
As if the RoughRiders beating the Eskimos wasn't bad enough now this snub from AC comes along.
Oh, I spoke too soon ;-) Still seems a bit bizarre that they added an extra 2 hours on the LHR-YYC segment, must have been cutting fairly deep into the fuel reserves.
The way that I read that website info is thus:
Departed LHR 1241
Arrived YXE 1649 (1549 YYC time, so he was down to YYC and then diverted)
Departed YXE 1759 (1:10 for a gas and go is not too bad)
Arrived YYC 1812
Quote:
Good thing the crew didn't time out -- on LHR-YYC, they would have some crew augmentation, right?
Good on the crew for staying with it. But then who other than TCook would appreciate an unplanned night in 'River City'
Location: I like to fly, both as a pax and as a private pilot
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Was about to post this earlier as it was reported on local news that the fog was "too thick for some planes to land".
Black Ice on Highway 2 doesn't help travel in the area this evening. In my opinion, the fog wasn't that bad (especially compared to Haf-i-lax), but safety first.
Most flights landing were delayed ~30 mins after the fog set in, if not diverted outright (as per this)
The way that I read that website info is thus:
Departed LHR 1241
Arrived YXE 1649 (1549 YYC time, so he was down to YYC and then diverted)
Departed YXE 1759 (1:10 for a gas and go is not too bad)
Arrived YYC 1812
Good on the crew for staying with it. But then who other than TCook would appreciate an unplanned night in 'River City'
Ah, thanks for pointing out the time change. As we don't observe daylight savings time here (what a waste that the rest of the country does), the plane was only airborne for a mere extra hour.
Trust me, if the plane got stuck in Saskatoon for the night, it would've been a nightmare with respect to Customs/immigration clearance for the passengers. Even on the best days with the two Northwest flights, it can take a good hour to get through, and that's not even with a DC-9 on the route. On a Sunday night coming back from London, I imagine the plane would have been fairly full.
... the fog was "too thick for some planes to land".
Do you notice that all of the cancelled flights are American carriers?? Strange.
Quote:
In my opinion, the fog wasn't that bad
It all depended where you were and when. As I was driving along Country Hills Blvd it just got worse and worse. I came up to some traffic lights and barely saw them intime (and of course they were red) This was between 1430 and 1445.
I would say too that the airlines got caught off guard by another bad Weather forecast. The afternoon was supposed to be good. I drove down and back in one day. In the morning the Calgary radios were saying flurries ending by noon. When I went through about 1100 it was nice, almost sunny and thought that it would be a nice drive home. Was I surprised!!!
Not apparently. I have just driven from Canmore back to Edmonton and it is very thick fog in spots (the worst was close to the airport), with rain, snow, freezing rain, freezing drizzle, freezing fog mixed in with it....
And I was complaining that I'm going to have to mow the lawn again the next sunny day.
Freezing fog! I suppose there are reasons to live in Edmonton....
