Jpax
Well-Known Member
Anyone here that's flown into EWR often has probably had their share of fun with the 22R Circle 29. It's a great approach, especially if tower wants you making a short approach straight to the numbers.
Last night while holding short of 22R/W, we we're watching everyone make their swoops on in to 29. Up next was a 757. Looking out into the harbor, we tried to find this guy, and since we couldn't, just figured he was keeping it far out over the Hudson for a shallow turn to final. Not soon after, Tower calls up asking if this flight had a visual on the airport, as they were at a very low altitude, two and a half miles out from the airport. They replied they had no visual, and we're going missed. It was at this time we saw the plane come up from below the line of cranes that separate EWR from the harbor.
It was an eerie feeling seeing that aircraft so low that the harbor cranes obstructed it. Now whether the crew was already in the process of going missed, or ATC confirmed their doubts, good save by the guys up in tower. It's very easy to lose 29 at night, especially down low beneath low clouds.
Here's a picture showing 29 at night on the far side of the airport, as well as the harbor:
http://www.airliners.net/photo/British-Airways/Boeing-777-236/1659619/L/
And the LiveATC clip if anyone's interested, start at about 5:35 in: http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kewr/KEWR-Twr-Aug-15-2012-0100Z.mp3
It's another reinforced lesson about circling night approaches, or any approach. Lose the runway, just go missed. A few hundred feet off the ground at night in a sea of lights, or anywhere for that matter, isn't the time to play 'wait and see.'
Jpax
Last night while holding short of 22R/W, we we're watching everyone make their swoops on in to 29. Up next was a 757. Looking out into the harbor, we tried to find this guy, and since we couldn't, just figured he was keeping it far out over the Hudson for a shallow turn to final. Not soon after, Tower calls up asking if this flight had a visual on the airport, as they were at a very low altitude, two and a half miles out from the airport. They replied they had no visual, and we're going missed. It was at this time we saw the plane come up from below the line of cranes that separate EWR from the harbor.
It was an eerie feeling seeing that aircraft so low that the harbor cranes obstructed it. Now whether the crew was already in the process of going missed, or ATC confirmed their doubts, good save by the guys up in tower. It's very easy to lose 29 at night, especially down low beneath low clouds.
Here's a picture showing 29 at night on the far side of the airport, as well as the harbor:
http://www.airliners.net/photo/British-Airways/Boeing-777-236/1659619/L/
And the LiveATC clip if anyone's interested, start at about 5:35 in: http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kewr/KEWR-Twr-Aug-15-2012-0100Z.mp3
It's another reinforced lesson about circling night approaches, or any approach. Lose the runway, just go missed. A few hundred feet off the ground at night in a sea of lights, or anywhere for that matter, isn't the time to play 'wait and see.'
Jpax