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05:46
Heh, I hate calling it a circuit. Makes me think of the circus.
 
7 hours later…
13:04
@falstro I think about this first:
13:46
yeah, that too
14:38
@DanHulme uh, non-pilot asking here... is landing in the opposite direction of another plane normal?
Wouldn't you usually both want to land into the wind, and if no wind, at least approach from the same direction for safety?
14:52
@FreeMan it's not something countered everyday but not abnormal either
think runway switch: when the winds change, somebody has to be the first one to land in the other direction
@falstro Every time I see or hear "Mama", Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody starts playing in my head. That or the Muppet's version...
@kevin a valid point. Dan's statement seemed to indicate they were simultaneous landings, which, in my layman's mind, wouldn't happen due to a wind switch
if there's no wind and traffic permits, ATC may offer such a direction
e.g. one guy arriving the airport from the North, another from the South
hunh. Learn something new every day...
of course, if there are many planes and everyone is approaching from the South, the guy from North will have to fly around the airport
having simultaneous approaching planes is an issue when one needs to go around
so there will be more time between landings from opposite directions
15:02
I recall there was an ATC recording where Approach and Tower had a miscommunication about a runway switch, and ended up sending landing planes right into the departure path...
@ratchetfreak this reminds me of the lovely simultaneous approaches to 22L and 11 at EWR. Usually timed so the aircraft for 22 crosses 11 just as you are coming across the airport fence for 11. If that gets messed up the plane for 11 goes around and you hope the one for 22 doesn't need to do the same.
some close calls have happened as a result of the airplane on 22 also going around
15:35
@kevin The one I remember was at DCA a few years ago, there are some links from a thread here.
 
3 hours later…
18:06
@FreeMan in this case, it was because they wanted to practise ILS approaches, and the ILS is only on runway 23, while the wind was more favourable for runway 05
they weren't simultaneous landings; the Embraer called for its straight-in approach just as we turned onto final
@DanHulme That makes more sense, especially since it was a controlled runway.
So, who got the priority?
we did!
we didn't get the fun of having a 787 ready to start as we were flying past behind, though: the first flight out got that one
 
1 hour later…
19:42
One Hundred Answers
Hippocratic StackExchange Oath: I will save others by answering their questions.
4
20:24
@Farhan Congrats!

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