aircraft in Tokyo
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aircraft in Tokyo
Anyone know if AC had any aircraft enroute or at Narita when the earthquake happened and if they did are the crews just sitting around waiting to leave?
Would being down a plane or planes effect their other long haul routes?
Would being down a plane or planes effect their other long haul routes?
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Re: aircraft in Tokyo
AC001 & AC003 were en route when the quake occurred and were subsequently diverted to Sapporo.
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Re: aircraft in Tokyo
Air Canada flights in Narita seem to be back to normal as of earlier today. They had 3 flights depart Narita and the regular YYZ-NRT and YVR-NRT flights are scheduled to operate normally today.
Re: aircraft in Tokyo
I don't think I'd want to be flying in to Japan now. You could be flying through radiation if you come in over the Pacific.

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Re: aircraft in Tokyo
I'd hate to be at altitude reciving higher than normal levels of radiation








Winning
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Re: aircraft in Tokyo
To avoid this possibility, flights are being planned enroute over Russia, down over the Sea of Japan and descending from the north into Narita.
This routing keeps the flight upwind of any possible cloud contamination. The upper winds are always westerly at altitude over Japan.
This routing keeps the flight upwind of any possible cloud contamination. The upper winds are always westerly at altitude over Japan.
Re: aircraft in Tokyo
Thanks for posting this. I was a bit concerned about sitting in the radiation for hours. This on top of the normal high level radiation that SII alluded to could be a problem. So is NRT-YYZ nonstop still possible with this new routing?land3 wrote:To avoid this possibility, flights are being planned enroute over Russia, down over the Sea of Japan and descending from the north into Narita.
This routing keeps the flight upwind of any possible cloud contamination. The upper winds are always westerly at altitude over Japan.
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Re: aircraft in Tokyo
It would be very easy to route the flight slightly west and avoid the problem area. This routing only adds 136 miles to the direct route.
http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=yyz-n39e13 ... MP=r&DU=mi

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=yyz-n39e13 ... MP=r&DU=mi
Re: aircraft in Tokyo
As a visual learner I greatly appreciate your response in picture form.
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Re: aircraft in Tokyo
Here is the actual routing from yesterday's flight. Today's flight is almost exactly the same.




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Re: aircraft in Tokyo
If you are curious you can track the flights each day on the various "Flight tracker" websites.
I like this one: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ACA1 ... /CYYZ/RJAA

I like this one: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ACA1 ... /CYYZ/RJAA

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Re: aircraft in Tokyo
Yes, there's lots of fuel for this routing which is presently 777 service.Rudy wrote:Thanks for posting this. I was a bit concerned about sitting in the radiation for hours. This on top of the normal high level radiation that SII alluded to could be a problem. So is NRT-YYZ nonstop still possible with this new routing?land3 wrote:To avoid this possibility, flights are being planned enroute over Russia, down over the Sea of Japan and descending from the north into Narita.
This routing keeps the flight upwind of any possible cloud contamination. The upper winds are always westerly at altitude over Japan.
NRT-YYZ can be planned northeast because of the great circle distance which will be a shorter distance. Having said that, tailwind component is the usually the primary consideration eastbound for fuel and time savings, and the eastbound routing is usually well south of the westbound routes (which have less headwind component). Westbound Russian routes are frequently preferable quite often because of this less headwind component at northern latitudes.
The good news regarding the Japan situation is that eastbound departures out of NRT almost always start out as southeast departures, putting distance between the flight and any contaminated cloud which may be drifting generally east north east.
Hope I haven't confused you too much.
Re: aircraft in Tokyo
Thanks for the great replies. Yes, eastbound (AC002) is what I'm curious about. Looking at yesterdays track it seems they go due east for a ways before picking up a great circle route. I think the westbound (AC001) track coming in from the north avoids the area better but whatever. I'm sure I'll be fine.
Re: aircraft in Tokyo
Slightly off topic, but I'm wondering if anyone could elaborate a little more on the effects of the additional radiation and what to look out for? I'm heading into Taipei tonight through the Manilla FIR and both have been issued a Radiation emergency NOTAM and to be quite frank, I don't know what to do with this information. I'm assuming there won't be any adverse affects to the aircraft and it's systems (a320) as the documentation I have doesn't actually specifically talk about radiation fallout. As for health wise, I'm assuming the effects will be minimal unless they keep sending me back up there over the next little while...
I work for a budget airline and resources are fairly thin in regards to finding additional documentation so if anyone has a link, document, is better with google keywords then me or word of mouth from AC operations to the Asia crews, I'd appreciate any info you have.
I work for a budget airline and resources are fairly thin in regards to finding additional documentation so if anyone has a link, document, is better with google keywords then me or word of mouth from AC operations to the Asia crews, I'd appreciate any info you have.
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Re: aircraft in Tokyo
The Tokyo to Taipei route alone should keep you well away from any contamination or radiation, as that is occurring approximately 150 nm north of Tokyo. The upper winds have been heading out over the Pacific, away from where you are going. Presently, the radiation released from the Fukushima Daiichi plant is minimal according to the latest news. Presently, due to the direction of your flight i think you should not be too concerned about any affects on you or your passengers health.
Assess the notams, plot where the warning areas are and choose your route to avoid the areas. Use all your tools available to make the best decisions: Upper air charts, satellite and infra-red imagery, sig weather progs, airmets and sigmets. Everything is online and available for self briefing from sites such as these:
http://aviationweather.gov/obs/sat/intl/ir.shtml
http://aviationweather.gov/iffdp/
http://www.gofir.com/aviation_weather/index.htm
Have a good flight (and go visit Snake Alley in Taipei on your layover).
Assess the notams, plot where the warning areas are and choose your route to avoid the areas. Use all your tools available to make the best decisions: Upper air charts, satellite and infra-red imagery, sig weather progs, airmets and sigmets. Everything is online and available for self briefing from sites such as these:
http://aviationweather.gov/obs/sat/intl/ir.shtml
http://aviationweather.gov/iffdp/
http://www.gofir.com/aviation_weather/index.htm
Have a good flight (and go visit Snake Alley in Taipei on your layover).
Re: aircraft in Tokyo
I see they are backtracking to Osaka now before heading to Toronto instead of Tokyo direct. I wonder if it's to pick up more people or what? I hope too many don't miss their connections.
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Re: aircraft in Tokyo
Concern for the health and safety of crews will now see them laying over in Osaka.
Flights from Canada will arrive in NRT, drop off Japan destination passengers, load Canada bound passengers, then slip into KIX for crew change before proceeding to Canada.
Flights from Canada will arrive in NRT, drop off Japan destination passengers, load Canada bound passengers, then slip into KIX for crew change before proceeding to Canada.
Re: aircraft in Tokyo
I see. Well, at least they aren't completely panicking and canceling all flights outright like some airlines. Thanks for the info.
Re: aircraft in Tokyo
My bum hurts just looking at that YYZ-NRT flight. How many hours is that?
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Re: aircraft in Tokyo
http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=yyz-nrt&MS ... 83&SU=machWJ700 wrote:My bum hurts just looking at that YYZ-NRT flight. How many hours is that?
About 12 hours in the air. But because they are using 4 man crews during this "Crisis", each pilot would spend almost 6 hours in the overhead bunk.

Last edited by Lost in Saigon on Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: aircraft in Tokyo
Plus the 2+ hour side trip to Osaka for the crew change. No passengers on or off. What would that of cost in a 777?