Strange Approach into KELP

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RandyB

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My son flew from KHOU to KELP on Saturday, July 30, 2022., SW 3539. Some 30 miles east of KELP the pilot made several heading changes west then north then west then began the decent into KELP. For some reason, the plane flew west over KELP and continued west over the Franklin Mountains at approximately 6500’. The plane then turned 180 degrees and flew back east over the Franklin Mountains and again flew over KELP. Once the plane was east of KELP the plane turned west again and entered a left downwind for 08R and landed 08R. A very strange occurrence. I flew my plane into KELP earlier that morning and landed 26R. A NOTAM was posted for 26R/08L to be closed later in the day. No NOTAMS for 08R/26L were posted. Winds were light and variable most of the day. SW3539 was very early into KELP this day. As KELP is not normally a busy airport it seemed odd to have this type of approach to the airport. What could have been up with the flight, mechanical issue, runway issue, sudden wind change?


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RandyB said:
My son flew from KHOU to KELP on Saturday, July 30, 2022., SW 3539. Some 30 miles east of KELP the pilot made several heading changes west then north then west then began the decent into KELP. For some reason, the plane flew west over KELP and continued west over the Franklin Mountains at approximately 6500’. The plane then turned 180 degrees and flew back east over the Franklin Mountains and again flew over KELP. Once the plane was east of KELP the plane turned west again and entered a left downwind for 08R and landed 08R. A very strange occurrence. I flew my plane into KELP earlier that morning and landed 26R. A NOTAM was posted for 26R/08L to be closed later in the day. No NOTAMS for 08R/26L were posted. Winds were light and variable most of the day. SW3539 was very early into KELP this day. As KELP is not normally a busy airport it seemed odd to have this type of approach to the airport. What could have been up with the flight, mechanical issue, runway issue, sudden wind change?


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What does the blue dashed line mean on those FlightAware tracks?
 
I don't know. First time I've seen them on the app. Those dashed lines are on the entire flight.
 
Wind sock check.??

Checking the runway is clear.??

Report of rattle snakes on the runway.??
 
I live here in El Paso. If KELP is "switching runways" it normally requires using the LOA (Letter of Agreement) with Juarez Mexico to allow over-flight or penetration of their airspace (which is normal when Runways 8R and 4 are in use. If flightaware is accurate, it seems that they didn't need to penetrate Mexican airspace ...
 
I live here in El Paso. If KELP is "switching runways" it normally requires using the LOA (Letter of Agreement) with Juarez Mexico to allow over-flight or penetration of their airspace (which is normal when Runways 8R and 4 are in use. If flightaware is accurate, it seems that they didn't need to penetrate Mexican airspace ...
 
luvflyin said:
What does the blue dashed line mean on those FlightAware tracks?
Click to expand...

The blue dashed lines are the "as filed" route that Flightaware received from the FAA. Notorious for having some funny jogs in it if there are random fixes in the routing.

Possible reasons:
Flight crew might have had some indication in the cockpit, requiring a little extra time to run the extra checklist.
Flipping runway directions
Runway was temporarily tied up for some reason
Some other traffic, perhaps another emergency or other priority, caused a slight delay.

On further looking, the flight after it also had some type of hold. Probably was not anything specific to the SW flight.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/UCA4835/history/20220730/1725Z/KIAH/KELP
 
midwestpa24 said:
The blue dashed lines are the "as filed" route that Flightaware received from the FAA. Notorious for having some funny jogs in it if there are random fixes in the routing.

Possible reasons:
Flight crew might have had some indication in the cockpit, requiring a little extra time to run the extra checklist.
Flipping runway directions
Runway was temporarily tied up for some reason
Some other traffic, perhaps another emergency or other priority, caused a slight delay.

On further looking, the flight after it also had some type of hold. Probably was not anything specific to the SW flight.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/UCA4835/history/20220730/1725Z/KIAH/KELP
Click to expand...
Thx. On the lighter side, maybe the FAA has gone to a piece work pay system. Controllers get paid by the vector:D
 
Complete speculation, but looking at Flightaware he might have been a little fast and needed some time to slow the plane down a bit.
 
Thanks for all the answers! I would presume that all was OK with the plane as it flew very low over the Franklin Mountains, twice. As I posted. I flew into KELP earlier that day. Tower had me deep in Mexico to avoid traffic departing 26L before I was allowed to turn inbound.
 

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might have been a little fat on fuel and had to burn some off to get to max landing weight
 
I was over there Sat., there was a nordo 172 effing up their day, maybe it was that?
Also, I have to wonder about an airliner buzzing over the Franklins at only 6500’, that seems pretty darn low.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I was over there Sat., there was a nordo 172 effing up their day, maybe it was that?
Also, I have to wonder about an airliner buzzing over the Franklins at only 6500’, that seems pretty darn low.
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Now that would make sense, since there were two airliners in random holding patterns at that time.
 
RandyB said:
Thanks for all the answers! I would presume that all was OK with the plane as it flew very low over the Franklin Mountains, twice. As I posted. I flew into KELP earlier that day. Tower had me deep in Mexico to avoid traffic departing 26L before I was allowed to turn inbound.
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If you're GA and flying with a concealed weapon I HIGHLY recommend not accepting the Juarez Mexico over-flight in case of an engine or emergency issue. East-West traffic can transition downtown or via Anthony Gap ... the non-locals never take Anthony Gap (between Las Cruces and El Paso) ... commercial traffic does, but they're always WAY high. You can fly the north side of Class C and not enter Class C at all if you navigate it correctly using Anthony Gap to transition south of the restricted and north of the Class C.

Zeldman said:
IIRC the highest peaks in the area are somewhere around 7000 feet.
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Correct ... 7200 MSL ... but you can transition through "the pass" which is the downtown area or Anthony Gap as low as 5000 ...
 
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