Low Flying 737 over Cork/Kerry Border

jod1983

Hi Guys
I was in Ballyvourney Co Cork today @2:50pm when i noticed a 737(saw thewinglets) flying at about 1000-1500 feet. The belly of the plane was red. I checked Cork,Kerry and Shannon's arrival info in and around that time but didn't get any answers.
It was so low that only for flying north between the mountains i dont think it would have cleared them.

Steyr

jod1983 wrote: »

Hi Guys
I was in Ballyvourney Co Cork today @2:50pm when i noticed a 737(saw thewinglets) flying at about 1000-1500 feet. The belly of the plane was red. I checked Cork,Kerry and Shannon's arrival info in and around that time but didn't get any answers.
It was so low that only for flying north between the mountains i dont think it would have cleared them.

Sounds like a Training Mission.

partyguinness

I know that area very well.

That is very strange. I have never seen any planes esp not 737s flying anywhere near there. Plus the RTE mast is an obvious danger.

jod1983

Just what i thought. It flew to the western side of the mast.
Last Wednesday at 7:00pm i saw a Ryanair 737 at maybe 5000-6000 but looked a the Kerry arrivals and one was due.
As you said,its very unual to see planes that low in this area.

highlydebased

There was an Air Berlin A330 on an airtest out of Shannon this afternoon- that has a red belly. Would have been it- I saw it too (albeit not in Kerry)

jod1983

Neon-Circles wrote: »

There was an Air Berlin A330 on an airtest out of Shannon this afternoon- that has a red belly. Would have been it- I saw it too (albeit not in Kerry)

Just looked at airliners.net. Looks like you could be right except that the winglets i saw seem more like the 737's rather than a a330.
Why would they fly so low in an area which such obvious dangers,ie,high mountains,an RTE mast at 220m on one of these high mountains????

andy_g

not likely but could be serveying or if it has had repairs to the gpws it could be testing the system

TrackBarChaser

I know that area really well also and can't imagine flying a jet at the stated altitudes, or anything close to it! I'm not doubting what you saw just saying it sounds very wierd to me. I mean those Mullaghanish masts are at 500ft AGL and you say you saw a 737/330 at about 1500 in the area! There are also peaks of 2000-2300ft in that area.
The CRK 2C SID from Kerry tracks more or less over Ballyvourney (114 degrees) if followed in full that is and there are altitude restrictions on that SID that wouldn't allow an a/c to be that low in and around the Ballyvourney area.
So, actually the more I think about it I'm afraid I am doubting what you saw! But I could be wrong of course! If so I'd like to find out what they were at, training? surveying? in that area, with those size jets and at 1500ft!! I've never heard of it anyway.

TrackBarChaser

I know that area really well also and can't imagine flying a jet at the stated altitudes, or anything close to it! I'm not doubting what you saw just saying it sounds very wierd to me. I mean those Mullaghanish masts are at 2634ft AMSL and you say you saw a 737/330 at about 1500 in the area!
The CRK 2C SID from Kerry tracks more or less over Ballyvourney (114 degrees) if followed in full that is and there are altitude restrictions on that SID that wouldn't allow an a/c to be that low in and around the Ballyvourney area.
So, actually the more I think about it I'm afraid I am doubting what you saw!

TrackBarChaser

Neon-Circles wrote: »

There was an Air Berlin A330 on an airtest out of Shannon this afternoon- that has a red belly. Would have been it- I saw it too (albeit not in Kerry)

http://avherald.com/h?article=429cb276&opt=0

Was that the Air Berlin you saw at EINN?

Did jod1983 note the heading the a/c with the red belly was on?
If you saw it heading toward SNN from your position I would saw this is what you saw but no way was it at 1-2000ft at that distance from SNN.

gihj

This aircraft was extremely low over Limerick City outskirts this afternoon.
Flying in very strange direction and unusual movements for Shannon bound aircraft.

jod1983

Sorry for the delay in posting back (damn Utd)
When i saw the aircraft i was in Coolea about 1.5 from Ballyvourney. The aircraft flew in a northerlly direction west of Mullaghanois but not to far from it.
When it pasted me i was outside the car and it flew overhead. Alt:??? but very low{i Planespot alot so thats why i was baffled by this}. It was also really loud. As it headed towards Mullaghanois (bout 2 miles as the crow flies from my position) it seemed nearly level with the peak of the mountain,maybe a bit lower. Thats why i think 1000-1500ft cause i dont think that Mullaghanois is higher than that, but i stand to be corrected. By the way i understand that thats not a very accurate altitude reading.
Thanks for the info on the Air Berlin,hence why it wasnt on the Shannon arrival info,which on another subject is fairly short at the moment.

highlydebased

TrackBarChaser wrote: »

http://avherald.com/h?article=429cb276&opt=0

Was that the Air Berlin you saw at EINN?

Did jod1983 note the heading the a/c with the red belly was on?
If you saw it heading toward SNN from your position I would saw this is what you saw but no way was it at 1-2000ft at that distance from SNN.

Thats the one. Obviously something else came into my mind and thought airtest. Thanks.

Dacian

There was an Air Berlin diversion into SNN today. It was an A330-200, that must have been it. As a diversion it may well have approached in a different manner to a planned flight. The size difference between a B737 could have made you think it was lower than it actually was.

I don't want to sound patronising with that comment. I live under the flight path to Baldonnel,last year a DC-8 come out of the low cloud over my gaff, scared the ****e out of me, the noise and the size of it made it look like a crash landing compared to the usual Bizjet/CN235/Alphajet approach. Size is deceiving.

EDIT:The A330/A340 has 'winglets' while the A320 are probably better described as 'wingtip fences' or just 'wingtips'.

Andrew33

jod1983 wrote: »

Just looked at airliners.net. Looks like you could be right except that the winglets i saw seem more like the 737's rather than a 330's

A 330's winglets ARE more like a Boeing design rather than the design you see on 320/321 models which are above and below end of wing.

Micky Dolenz

I saw a large passager plane flying low and slow over Bruff in Co Limerick this morning. Didn't think it was on a route.

Foggy43

Was the aircraft heading west towards Foynes? Shannon's landing runway was 06. There was also ATC restrictions over Wales yesterday and possibly today routing aircraft on non standard route. Heathrow Shannon Heathrow were routed over Dublin, Liverpool, Luton.

Micky Dolenz

yeah heading west. That was probably it then, thanks

bbsrs

andy_g wrote: »

not likely but could be serveying or if it has had repairs to the gpws it could be testing the system

What? Testing the gpws by flying near the ground ! Not a chance , too dangerous and all that testing is done on the ground using speciaist test equipment and built in test equipment . Aircraft aren't allowed fly unless they are serviceable .

TrackBarChaser

bbsrs wrote: »

What? Testing the gpws by flying near the ground ! Not a chance , too dangerous and all that testing is done on the ground using speciaist test equipment and built in test equipment . Aircraft aren't allowed fly unless they are serviceable .

I know I was laughing at that one! I can image been asked to take a jet up to "test" the EGPWS!

bbsrs

TrackBarChaser wrote: »

I know I was laughing at that one! I can image been asked to take a jet up to "test" the EGPWS!

I don't think the pilots would be too impressed if they were asked, by the way fly towards that mountain at 1000ft to see if the EGPWS is working if you hear PULL UP PULL UP , I'll talk to you when you land , if not, goodbye.