Interesting at the airport !

[lfc84]

23rd February 2017

STATEMENT ON INCIDENT ON THE 23rd OF FEBRUARY AND FLIGHT UPDATES FOR THE 24th OF FEBRUARY

Citywing can confirm that Van Air-operated flight 502 took off from the Isle of Man destined for Belfast on Thursday morning but returned due to deteriorating weather conditions in Northern Ireland.

Citywing have been advised by Van Air that the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has requested to speak with Van Air following the incident. Until such discussions take place, hopefully within the next 24-48 hours, the UK CAA has asked Van Air to stop flying. Unfortunately this means that all Citywing flights will be affected until further notice.

David Buck, Managing Director of Citywing said, “Passenger safety has to be the first priority and all such incidents are rightly investigated as a matter of routine. We are working with the flight operator Van Air and relevant authorities to resolve the situation as soon as possible.

Due to this operational disruption Van Air has chartered in a Stansted based Titan Airways 737 to operate the following flights.

V9514 IOM-BELFAST STD1400 STA1430 to accommodate all Isle of Man to Belfast passengers for the day.

V9515 BELFAST-IOM STD1510 STA1540 to accommodate all Belfast to Isle of Man passengers for the day.

V9814 IOM-NEWCASTLE STD1620 STA1655 to accommodate all Isle of Man to Newcastle, Isle of Man to Glasgow and all Isle of Man to Blackpool passengers. Passengers for Glasgow and Blackpool will be provided with surface transport to their destination.

“We apologise in advance for the disruption this will cause to travel plans. We will do our best to keep passengers informed and would ask for your patience and understanding as we deal with this difficult situation at short notice.”

In the first instance this only affects flights for the 24th of February. Citywing will endeavour to contact all passengers but this may take time so we request your patience and understanding. If you have an urgent question please contact our Reservations on tel no: 0871 200 0440 who will be available between 0900 and 1700.

 

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:
Citywing Aviation Services Ltd, “Citywing”, is an Isle of Man-based company arranging air services from the Isle of Man to Belfast, Blackpool, Glasgow, Newcastle, Gloucester and Jersey. Citywing and its partners employ 50 staff on the Island and carry in excess of 70,000 passengers per year.

Issued by Citywing.

Martin Norbury
Isle of Man Advertising and Public Relations Limited Tel: (01624) 620440

[Lxxx]

I like the notes part.

 

Citywing would like to advise you, should you need it confirming, that once you've booked your ticket any harm that should occur to you, or otherwise, is absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with them and that you are taking the flight at your own risk.

[manxman8180]

Shower of shites, how the fuck are they still allowed to operate our of the airport?

 

But of course they don't operate.....they are just a booking agent. Or some shit like that!!!!

[asitis]

Clearly the relevant question is why did the aircraft depart in the first place when conditions here were so bad too !

[ballaughbiker]

Captain's decision asitis which will now be under great scrutiny.

[Lost Login]

But of course they don't operate.....they are just a booking agent. Or some shit like that!!!!

Is that any different from Flybe in the IoM or Aer Lingus on the Iom/Dublin route as aren't there routes operated by Stobart Air.

[JessTickle]

 

But of course they don't operate.....they are just a booking agent. Or some shit like that!!!!

Is that any different from Flybe in the IoM or Aer Lingus on the Iom/Dublin route as aren't there routes operated by Stobart Air.

 

 

Have to say I started to wonder about this too

 

And stobart air don't operate the Dublin flight - they have contracted that out to another airline - think they are Spanish

 

Cant the airport stop the City Wing pilots from taking off?

[Andy Onchan]

Does anyone know if any of the other flights took off (before the Capt of Van Air-operated flight 502 decided to rotate)?

[asitis]

 

 

But of course they don't operate.....they are just a booking agent. Or some shit like that!!!!

Is that any different from Flybe in the IoM or Aer Lingus on the Iom/Dublin route as aren't there routes operated by Stobart Air.

 

 

Have to say I started to wonder about this too

 

And stobart air don't operate the Dublin flight - they have contracted that out to another airline - think they are Spanish

 

Cant the airport stop the City Wing pilots from taking off?

 

 

Nope always the captains decision, the only time they question that is during low vis approaches when the tower can ask " what are your intentions ?"

 

I actually wonder yesterday whether they were pro active in as much as on the RT I heard them say " from the IOM CAA shut down where you are "

[Gladys]

Report this morning that the operators, Van Air, are under investigation by the CAA (UK) after the aircraft returned to Ronaldsway. That's an odd report as it does not say the incident is under investigation, but Van Air.

[JessTickle]

 

 

 

 

Have to say I started to wonder about this too

 

And stobart air don't operate the Dublin flight - they have contracted that out to another airline - think they are Spanish

 

Cant the airport stop the City Wing pilots from taking off?

 

 

Nope always the captains decision, the only time they question that is during low vis approaches when the tower can ask " what are your intentions ?"

 

I actually wonder yesterday whether they were pro active in as much as on the RT I heard them say " from the IOM CAA shut down where you are "

 

 

Thanks for this - an interesting insight as to how it works.

 

So they literally had to stop and get out of the plane where it landed?

 

They are mental feckers thats for sure.

[asitis]

 

 

 

 

 

Have to say I started to wonder about this too

 

And stobart air don't operate the Dublin flight - they have contracted that out to another airline - think they are Spanish

 

Cant the airport stop the City Wing pilots from taking off?

 

 

Nope always the captains decision, the only time they question that is during low vis approaches when the tower can ask " what are your intentions ?"

 

I actually wonder yesterday whether they were pro active in as much as on the RT I heard them say " from the IOM CAA shut down where you are "

 

 

Thanks for this - an interesting insight as to how it works.

 

So they literally had to stop and get out of the plane where it landed?

 

They are mental feckers thats for sure.

 

 

The passengers were bussed off from the runway at the intersection, the fire trucks surrounded the aircraft to protect it from the wind so I am told !

[notwell]

Sounds overkill to me.

The weather can change quickly too.

[woolley]

I think anyone who decided to take off in that, whether pilot or passenger, should be investigated by a psychiatrist not the CAA.

[guzzi]

Replaying on FR24, the Gloucester, Belfast and Glasgow all depart within around half an hour. The Belfast flight passed overhead Belfast, but did not land. I don't know whether he made an approach, FR24 drops out at that point. He then returns and FR24 drops out again as he is on approach for Ronaldsway.

 

I guess the obvious questions will be were conditions within the operational limits at Ronaldsway for the aircraft when the Belfast (and the other flights) took off and were they within operational limits at Belfast? If they took off for Belfast in hopes of an improvement, did they take account of likely conditions at diversionary airports (especially back at Ronaldsway)? What seems to have happened is that they were actually left in the air with no where to go that was within operational limits, or opted to deliberately return to an airport that wasn't within the relevant limits.

 

One problem is that the Let410 can be tipped over onto a wingtip by strong winds, and therefore has a maximum wind speed limit for taxiing. Potentially, they might have taxied out in breach of that limit, or ended up having to land in conditions where they would breach the limit when they taxied the aircraft to the gate.

 

All aircraft also have other weather related operational limits, like maximum tailwind or crosswind for take off and landing. Those will likely be of interest to the CAA.