Most often, planes bypass airfields before landing. Perhaps some tourists know why this is done. In this article we will tell you the reason why pilots “create” in the sky.
Flightradar24 is a public web service that allows you to monitor the status of aircraft in real time. The movement of some of them was observed by Facebook user Asemgul Mukasheva, who was interested in why the pilot did not immediately go to land, but first circled over the airport.
Скриншот Асемгуль Мукашевой
According to the pilot of the National Air Carrier Igor Danilov, Flightradar circles are called “waiting areas”. Pilots are waiting for better weather conditions or their turn to land.
“One of the reasons is the weather conditions. Depending on the amount of fuel on board, computers calculate how long the crew can be in the waiting area or when to go to the auxiliary airfield. The final decision is made by the crew commander. The waiting time may vary, usually no more than 30 minutes. Pilots always calculate the amount of fuel, taking into account the waiting area. Now we are trying to save fuel, so we will not turn around for a long time,” the expert said.
Скриншот Асемгуль Мукашевой
The pilot also shares that pilots “draw” not only circles, but also a spiral. More precisely, several planes in the waiting area, circling at different heights, form such a pattern.
“The rules for staying in the waiting area are prescribed in the International Flight Rules. In this zone, planes are waiting for their turn to land. In particularly busy airports, several planes may be circling at the same time. The dispatcher gives the aircraft permission to land on a first-come, first-served basis. Interestingly, the pattern in the waiting area above busy airports resembles a spiral, that is, several planes draw circles at different heights, depending on the queue,” he says.
According to Igor Danilov, the cause of the circles may also be a technical malfunction, dictating the need to burn fuel to reduce the landing weight of the aircraft to an acceptable value. So, the plane can spend several hours in the waiting area.
“For example, a plane took off from Almaty, and the pilots noticed a malfunction in the system indicators. To check the board, he is sent to the waiting area. While he is flying in a circle, he is checked, the procedures necessary for technical documents are carried out.
There are times when an airplane needs to burn fuel. Rarely, but this can happen: for example, the board took off, but the wheels of the chassis did not move. In this case, he needs to land at the departure airport. But the fuel tank is full, and the maximum landing weight of the board is exceeded, and for safety reasons it is necessary to burn fuel so that the mass decreases. For example, the crew was heading to Seoul, the journey time was supposed to be seven hours. So, it will take a long time to circle in the sky, two or three hours to wait for the mass to decrease to the desired limit. Passengers are always warned that the landing will be delayed for 10-15 minutes,” says the pilot.
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