Observed weather for 3/25/10 as of 0154 local time, 30 degrees Fahrenheit, winds 360 (due north) at 13 kts (gusts to 22 kts) with visibility of 10 statute miles.
My start time this evening was 0000 (midnight) to 0530. In Operations, it's known as the swing shift, providing a safety layer of dual coverage for the hours when the tower closes during winter operations. With only a few grains of sand left top-side of the winter operations hourglass, I'll take every minute of OT I can get. The well of winter overtime will soon be dry. I can easily justify these quick 5.5 hours shifts, knowing they'll be converted into comp time, redeemed to enjoy with my family on the shores of Lake Willoughby this June or absorbing sunshine on the beach in Ogunquit this August. But I digress.
The tower remained open 19 minutes late for Colgan 3256 this evening, arriving from Newark 96 minutes behind schedule at 0019. When the winds are out of the north and we are running a RWY 33 operation, the tower will usually stick around to control the aircraft on approach control (frequency 121.100), as long as the aircraft is reasonably close. Tuesday night, Colgan was not reasonably close, forcing them to delay departure until 0400 for a landing at approximately 0530 when the tower reopened for the next day's operations. Doing the math, that's a 6 hour and 45 minute delay. Not a good day in my book. I can only imagine the passengers in Newark, trying to get comfortable in the terminal, while the Newark janitorial staff cleans the terminal around them, silently cursing these fools sprawled out every which way. If you want my advice, if at all possible, never book the last flight home in the evening. You might get stuck in an airport all night, and you don't want to do that unless you're on the clock, like I am.
The aforementioned delay for Colgan began like this, when the tower, who keeps one of the airport's hand held radios, chimed in at 2330:
Tower: "garbled, tower."
Looking at my watch, I thought, was that for me?
Tower: "Ops, tower."
Oh, it's tower. They always seem to garble the first transmission on the airport hand held.
OPS: "Operations, go ahead."
Tower: "Yeah, I've got two flights on final right now, any other flights that you know of?"
OPS: "Colgan 3256, hasn't taken off, estimated arrival of 0123."
Tower: "Uhh, they haven't even taken off yet?", a level of disgust rippling through his voice. "I don't think we'll be sticking around that late. You say it hasn't even hasn't even taken off?"
Ops: "I'll go speak to their ground crew, have Colgan dispatch give you a call."
Tower: "With winds gusting to 20 kts, I don't think they'll be able to land."
OPS: "Roger that. I'll have their dispatch call you."
At this point, controller Steve and I both know the following; if he stays, the flight makes it. If he goes, the flight is likely delayed until 0530, when the tower reopens.
When the tower and an air carrier need to communicate, I try to remain neutral, give only the facts and let the two entities sort the details out. What I can tell you is this: The airline industry is a darn complicated creature. Combine the enormous expense of running an aircraft, mix in safety, weather and the federal government, and you've got a veritable nightmare always lurking around the corner. It's a delicate balance; the scales so frequently tipping in the wrong direction.
The situation at hand is specifically complicated because Boston Center is unable to guide aircraft in for a 33 approach due to terrain issues, mainly Camel's Hump sticking up too high on the RWY 33 approach. Aircraft can land with instruments or visually on RWY 15, given favorable weather conditions, calm wind or winds from the south. With winds gusting to 22 kts out of the north, a runway 15 approach is completely out of the question.
At 2350, Colgan dispatch calls to confirm what I already suspected; the 0530 arrival once the tower reopens. Sounds like Steve decided to get a good night's sleep. I guess it's hard to blame the guy.
Back to tonight. (2300)
The temperature outside is dropping, forecast to hit 18 degrees by 0700. Departing from the south, namely Richmond, my 13-mile trip to BTV is spent fearing the worst. I departed at 2310, driving our 1997 Volvo 850 Wagon, a powerful, low-riding tank, ready for any weather condition Vermont may offer. A steady rain falling, the roads were soaked and the temperature gauge in the Volvo read 34 degrees outside. Not good. I had set my alarm for 2300, opting for a pre-work nap; not enough time to properly warm the car up.
Driving along the relatively flat Route 2, I make my way North and West, creeping toward the airport, my eyes shifting between the road and the temperature gauge every few seconds. 33 degrees. Four miles into the trip, the heated seats began to work their magic (Boy have I become a wimp). Climbing French Hill, my imagination drifted to the realities of an icy runway, poor braking, delayed flights; the scales beginning to tip... Had the guys called in crew already? How many flights were left to land?
Arriving in the center of Williston Village, the rain suddenly slowed to sprinkles. 34 degrees. Only one mile north of Williston Village, directly in front of the Williston Fire Station, the road turned from wet to dry, just like that; the scales, balancing once again. Beginning to relax, I turn up the radio. It's going to be okay. The cleaners in Newark are on easy street tonight.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
March Rain
We've shifted back into more typical March weather (WX). There's something reassuring about it. Cold rain, raw temperatures; about as cold as it gets without snowing. Last week I was driving around the airfield with the windows down. Go figure.
There were two flights after the tower closed this evening, Colgan 3256 (Continental Express, Bombardier Dash 8 Q 400)and JetBlue 128 (Airbus A320). Late flights are a welcome distraction for airport operations, providing a task to focus on as the airport grows quiet in the late evening hours. This time of the year, we simply watch the aircraft land. With the tower closed and Boston Center vectoring the flight into Burlington airspace, we have little to do but serve as silent witness to an aircraft landing safely. Should an aircraft not land safely, we initiate our emergency plan.
Listening to Boston Center on frequency (120.350), I await Boston to authorize the frequency change approval to CTAF (118.300) and for Colgan to begin advisory statements on their full ILS approach to RWY 15. Without incident, they land on the soaked runway. The Dash 8 kicks up a large plume of moisture, making for a dramatic entrance. Over on the ramp, the ground crew stands at attention. I've been there and I've done that and I can say without any hesitation that there is nothing more miserable in ground operations than standing in the pouring rain, waiting for an aircraft to taxi into gate. The dry heated cab of the operations truck further reaffirms my decision in defecting to the airport operations side of the business.
Later, after JB 128 lands, a quick stroll through the terminal reveals a small mob formed in front of the "Delta" ticket counter, apparently upset about missing bags from JFK. Although the sign above the ticket counter reads "Delta," it is operated by a regional carrier (Comair) and the counter folks are contracted through another company called Regional Elite. Contracted regional carriers and ground crews are the reality at smaller airports like BTV. One look at Paul (shift leader) from Regional Elite and I offer to call for police assistance...just to stand in back of the ticket counter...to look official. A uniformed officer almost always does the trick. Almost always. Officer Ray arrives.
"Okay, who's the problem here?" he says, loud enough for the crowd to hear. He's looking at nobody in particular, but the offending parties speaking in loud voices only moments ago, know his message is directed at them. They quietly look at the floor. Model citizens. I smile, saying, "Nobody's being a problem right now. Maybe you could just hang out here for a while."
As we wait for Paul to process the missing bag claims, Officer Ray leans up against the TSA screening table, describing the unusually busy night for airport police. A 17 year old runaway, six weeks from being 18 years old, is upstairs with Officer Paul. The runaway is booked on a flight to Alabama in the morning. The police have no ability to stop her from going to Alabama, without placing her in foster care (until her 18th birthday). Tough project to start at 2AM. At that very moment, the runaway's mother is traveling to BTV from the Northeast Kingdom on a mission to persuade her daughter to come home. The rain can only be adding to the misery of her car drive. It appears to be a situation without a reasonably good ending. The weather does funny things to people this time of year in Vermont. I wonder if the runaway took off when it was 63 degrees and sunny last week... Just a presumption. The crowd at Delta has mostly subsided. Officer Ray heads upstairs to see how things are sugaring out with the runaway. Her mother has just arrived.
Back in the operations office, the rain-spattered windows reveal a fleet of sleeping aircraft, getting a few last winks before the morning shift arrives. The pilots and flight attendants are probably asleep in their hotel beds. I decide it's too late for coffee. Glancing outside, the rain shows no signs of letting up. Maybe I'll have that coffee after all.
There were two flights after the tower closed this evening, Colgan 3256 (Continental Express, Bombardier Dash 8 Q 400)and JetBlue 128 (Airbus A320). Late flights are a welcome distraction for airport operations, providing a task to focus on as the airport grows quiet in the late evening hours. This time of the year, we simply watch the aircraft land. With the tower closed and Boston Center vectoring the flight into Burlington airspace, we have little to do but serve as silent witness to an aircraft landing safely. Should an aircraft not land safely, we initiate our emergency plan.
Listening to Boston Center on frequency (120.350), I await Boston to authorize the frequency change approval to CTAF (118.300) and for Colgan to begin advisory statements on their full ILS approach to RWY 15. Without incident, they land on the soaked runway. The Dash 8 kicks up a large plume of moisture, making for a dramatic entrance. Over on the ramp, the ground crew stands at attention. I've been there and I've done that and I can say without any hesitation that there is nothing more miserable in ground operations than standing in the pouring rain, waiting for an aircraft to taxi into gate. The dry heated cab of the operations truck further reaffirms my decision in defecting to the airport operations side of the business.
Later, after JB 128 lands, a quick stroll through the terminal reveals a small mob formed in front of the "Delta" ticket counter, apparently upset about missing bags from JFK. Although the sign above the ticket counter reads "Delta," it is operated by a regional carrier (Comair) and the counter folks are contracted through another company called Regional Elite. Contracted regional carriers and ground crews are the reality at smaller airports like BTV. One look at Paul (shift leader) from Regional Elite and I offer to call for police assistance...just to stand in back of the ticket counter...to look official. A uniformed officer almost always does the trick. Almost always. Officer Ray arrives.
"Okay, who's the problem here?" he says, loud enough for the crowd to hear. He's looking at nobody in particular, but the offending parties speaking in loud voices only moments ago, know his message is directed at them. They quietly look at the floor. Model citizens. I smile, saying, "Nobody's being a problem right now. Maybe you could just hang out here for a while."
As we wait for Paul to process the missing bag claims, Officer Ray leans up against the TSA screening table, describing the unusually busy night for airport police. A 17 year old runaway, six weeks from being 18 years old, is upstairs with Officer Paul. The runaway is booked on a flight to Alabama in the morning. The police have no ability to stop her from going to Alabama, without placing her in foster care (until her 18th birthday). Tough project to start at 2AM. At that very moment, the runaway's mother is traveling to BTV from the Northeast Kingdom on a mission to persuade her daughter to come home. The rain can only be adding to the misery of her car drive. It appears to be a situation without a reasonably good ending. The weather does funny things to people this time of year in Vermont. I wonder if the runaway took off when it was 63 degrees and sunny last week... Just a presumption. The crowd at Delta has mostly subsided. Officer Ray heads upstairs to see how things are sugaring out with the runaway. Her mother has just arrived.
Back in the operations office, the rain-spattered windows reveal a fleet of sleeping aircraft, getting a few last winks before the morning shift arrives. The pilots and flight attendants are probably asleep in their hotel beds. I decide it's too late for coffee. Glancing outside, the rain shows no signs of letting up. Maybe I'll have that coffee after all.
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