That’s a major screwup by the airline’s dispatchers not to mention the pilot. Where was ATC granting clearance for the flight??
Charlie West is a lousy airport anyway. Who would want to go there? Especially after midnight.
Jeez!
The airline would have had to do a lot better than "hotel vouchers" on this one.
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.
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.
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!
San Diego closes their airport at midnight as do a lot of others.
Well, I always thought the Charleston airport was totally rinky-dink. Heck, it always looked almost closed to me anyway, even when it was supposedly open. Fly in after 7:00pm and you’ll see what I mean.
Checked the Notams. Charleston has 2 runways, 23/05 and 21/03. Rwy 21/03 is closed. Rwy 23/05 is closed daily 0401-1000Z, 2300-0500 local. Even if the departure from Charlotte was delayed the pilot/dispatcher should have been able to figure out, based upon their departure time, what their arrival time at Charleston was going to be. Its possible that the airline dispatcher coordinated with the Charleston ATC supervisor about landing there and may have been told the aircraft could land so long as it arrived by 2300 local. Having worked as a controller and in airport operations, once a Notam is issued closing a runway at a specified time, except for an emergency, the runway closes. Still, I would like to know how far the aircraft was from Charleston at 2300.
Reminds me of my uncle who was swimming across the ocean. He got tired about half way, decided he couldn’t make it, and turned and swam back.