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Flight canceled mid-air, heads back to Charlotte
The Post and Courier ^ | July 24, 2009 | Allyson Bird

Posted on 07/24/2009 6:08:32 AM PDT by Peter Horry

A strange thing happened to a plane en route from Charlotte to Charleston on Wednesday night.

Already beginning his final descent into the Lowcountry, the pilot on U.S. Airways Flight 3203 announced that he was turning around and heading back to Charlotte. Charleston International Airport, he told passengers as the clock ticked past midnight, had closed.

Passenger Jenny Spain, returning from two weeks in Costa Rica with her husband, put it this way: "I've never heard of a flight being canceled mid-air."

The couple never learned why.

The airport did close at midnight, as it has every day since June 9 and will through Aug. 9, while work crews from the adjoining Charleston Air Force Base rebuild one of the two runways. The $30 million project runs from April through November and requires two months without air traffic between midnight and 6 a.m.

(Excerpt) Read more at postandcourier.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events; US: South Carolina
KEYWORDS: charlestonairport; charlotteairport; usairways
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1 posted on 07/24/2009 6:08:32 AM PDT by Peter Horry
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To: Peter Horry

That’s a major screwup by the airline’s dispatchers not to mention the pilot. Where was ATC granting clearance for the flight??


2 posted on 07/24/2009 6:17:28 AM PDT by CodeToad (If it weren't for physics and law enforcement I'd be unstoppable!)
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To: Peter Horry

3 posted on 07/24/2009 6:26:35 AM PDT by TSgt (I long for Norman Rockwell's America.)
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To: Peter Horry

Charlie West is a lousy airport anyway. Who would want to go there? Especially after midnight.


4 posted on 07/24/2009 6:29:19 AM PDT by Don Corleone ("Oil the gun..eat the cannolis. Take it to the Mattress.")
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To: Peter Horry
...and then they gave the irate passengers vouchers for hotel "discounts"?

Jeez!

5 posted on 07/24/2009 6:34:50 AM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner (Sarah Palin has crossed the Rubicon!)
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To: Don Corleone

Um, “Charlie West” is several hundred miles North of Charleston, South Carolina.

TC


6 posted on 07/24/2009 6:38:26 AM PDT by Pentagon Leatherneck
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To: Peter Horry
Talk about POed?
I would have been ballistic.

The airline would have had to do a lot better than "hotel vouchers" on this one.

7 posted on 07/24/2009 6:40:58 AM PDT by Just another Joe (Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)
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To: Peter Horry

Ron White material:
We were flying from Charlotte to Charleston, cause my manager didn’t own a globe. It’s a ten minute flight...couldn’t pull it off with this equipment.


8 posted on 07/24/2009 6:45:20 AM PDT by Deaf Smith (I spent all my money on women & booze, the other rest I just plain blew.)
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To: Peter Horry

9 posted on 07/24/2009 6:46:01 AM PDT by red-dawg (If you don't like the constitution, move to a country with one you like. LEAVE OURS ALONE.)
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To: Peter Horry
Memories of Charleston AFB.

What a sight when they took delivery of the first C-5A's!

Then as a cadet at "Alcatraz on the Ashley" I got a TDY to fly in one.

10 posted on 07/24/2009 6:50:06 AM PDT by N. Theknow (Kennedys: Can't fly, can't ski, can't drive, can't skipper a boat, but they know what's best.)
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To: Peter Horry

Wow! “Canceled”? The flight was flown to the destination and had to divert because the airport was closed. This usually happens because of weather, sometimes because of runway closure caused by an accident etc. The pilot knew that the airport was to close at 12, he must have thought that he could get there before the time. There must be more to the story like a creeping departure delay, ATC flow control restrictions (probably not at that hour), mechanical problems causing a return to the gate, delaying departure for connecting passengers...you get the idea.

Time to spare? Go by air!


11 posted on 07/24/2009 6:58:42 AM PDT by BatGuano
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To: N. Theknow

“What a sight when they took delivery of the first C-5A’s!”

Believe one of the first one’s in blew a tire, didn’t it? Those things also make an infernal racket, kind of like a DeWalt Router.


12 posted on 07/24/2009 7:02:17 AM PDT by Peter Horry (Never were abilities so much below mediocrity so well rewarded - John Randolph)
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To: BatGuano
The pilot knew that the airport was to close at 12, he must have thought that he could get there before the time. There must be more to the story like a creeping departure delay, ATC flow control restrictions (probably not at that hour), mechanical problems causing a return to the gate, delaying departure for connecting passengers...you get the idea.

You forgot not getting paid unless the wheels go up.

13 posted on 07/24/2009 7:03:05 AM PDT by VeniVidiVici (ABC-AP-MSNBC-All Obama, All the time.)
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To: VeniVidiVici; BatGuano

The article states that they thought they could get there in time after a delay on the ground in Charlotte for thunderstorms.

If you ask me, the air traffic tower guys are the ones responsible for this as they could have stayed a few more minutes to allow the plane to land, then close.

But these guys are unionized and don’t give a hoot. The plane was already in range and had contacted the tower when they were told the tower was closing.

This is union inflexibility.


14 posted on 07/24/2009 7:09:33 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi (Too many conservatives urge retreat when the war of politics doesn't go their way.)
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To: Peter Horry
Believe one of the first one’s in blew a tire, didn’t it? Those things also make an infernal racket, kind of like a DeWalt Router.

Correct. Most of them blew tires on their first landings.

One had a wheel come off, bounce down the runway, and destroy one of the little red/white checkered sheds.

They all came in a bit "low" as the pilots got used to the cockpit height over the runway.

Or so the explanation went.

As for the noise, we used to call them Screamin' Mimmies. When they would fly over the campus they drowned out everything!

15 posted on 07/24/2009 7:13:59 AM PDT by N. Theknow (Kennedys: Can't fly, can't ski, can't drive, can't skipper a boat, but they know what's best.)
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To: VeniVidiVici

“Flight time” actually starts when the brakes are released at the gate. The flight time to and from Charlotte did give the pilots more flight time credit but I really doubt that this was the reason for the attempt to operate the trip.


16 posted on 07/24/2009 7:20:39 AM PDT by BatGuano
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To: Erik Latranyi

A simple call from Charlotte or better coordination by the ATC entities involved could have prevented this situation.

I agree probably an ATC mess up. The present state of the FAA/ATC is sad. ATC centers are their own little fiefdoms. Coordination occurs IN SPITE of the system’s archaic equipment and the unions.


17 posted on 07/24/2009 7:29:29 AM PDT by BatGuano
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To: BatGuano
A simple call from Charlotte or better coordination by the ATC entities involved could have prevented this situation.

They did call from Charlotte due to the delay in getting off the ground, therefore, ATC knew the plane was inbound but decided to close the tower anyways.

As I said, union workers that don't give a damn about the quality of their job.

18 posted on 07/24/2009 7:34:16 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi (Too many conservatives urge retreat when the war of politics doesn't go their way.)
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To: Erik Latranyi

Post 14

There is no statement from the airport but I suspect the “deciding factor” was the schedule of the crew and equipment on the runway (though this isn’t addressed in the article). You would think ATC and the work crews could have waited long enough to allow an incoming flight to land .(probably less than 15 minutes) but the article doesn’t give their reasoning.

It could have been inflexibility on the part of the crew or the tower or there could have been a compelling reason. You also have to remember that support personnel would have to be available.


19 posted on 07/24/2009 7:51:57 AM PDT by Peter Horry (Never were abilities so much below mediocrity so well rewarded - John Randolph)
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To: Peter Horry
feh!

San Diego closes their airport at midnight as do a lot of others.

20 posted on 07/24/2009 9:01:22 AM PDT by ASOC (Who is that fat lady? And why is she singing???)
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