42,000 feet, many commercial aircraft fly that high?

vicwatson

I see BBC are saying a baby was born at that height, they say Turkish airlines. Where was TA flying to and from at 42,000 feet?

marno21

Said flight was a B739, TC-JYB, and spent its cruise at 39,000ft. Just badly researched article I'd imagine.

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/tk538/#

vicwatson

Don't think many commercial flights fly as high as 42k ??

marno21

vicwatson wrote: »

Don't think many commercial flights fly as high as 42k ??

787s can manage upto 43,000ft and you'd see a few on FlightRadar flying around FL410. Not many other planes that high though. You'd see a fair few Gulfstreams and Bombardiers though.

vicwatson

marno21 wrote: »

787s can manage upto 43,000ft and you'd see a few on FlightRadar flying around FL410. Not many other planes that high though. You'd see a fair few Gulfstreams and Bombardiers though.

Maybe BBC talking poo or...

sparrowcar

Example

upload image online

Irish Steve

Long time ago now, but I think my memory of being above FL400 in an EI airbus as we went down the west coast into LAX is correct, and what made it even more interesting was continuous descent all the way in, which I wasn't expecting into such a busy location.

Comhrá

I flew SNN - ATL many years ago on a Delta B772 and we climbed to fl 410 once we got to the Eastern seaboard and then down to ATL.

I think it's the only time I got to fl 410.

RYR B738 s do fl 400 fairly regularly though. I was amazed to see one go up to fl 400 flying STD -SNN last year.

EchoIndia

I flew at FL410 in a Delta DC-8-71 many years ago; FLL-ATL so a short flight.

Wesser

vicwatson wrote: »

Don't think many commercial flights fly as high as 42k ??

42000ft is not 42km.
There are approx 3.5 ft in a metre.

Cookiemunster

Wesser wrote: »

42000ft is not 42km.
There are approx 3.5 ft in a metre.

K = 000, not km. He already said feet in his op.

smurfjed

B767 / B777 / B787
# Maximum Operating Altitude ..............................43,100 feet pressure altitude
B757
# Maximum Operating Altitude ..............................42,000 feet pressure altitude
B737-600/700/800/900
# Maximum Operating Altitude ..............................41,000 feet pressure altitude
A320
# Maximum Operating Altitude ..............................40,000 feet pressure altitude
G550 / Falcon 7X
# Maximum Operating Altitude ..............................51,000 feet pressure altitude
GIV
# Maximum Operating Altitude ..............................45,000 feet pressure altitude

There are thrust and aerodynamic limitations associated with getting to those heights based on the aircraft weight and OAT.

arubex

FL420 is technically feasiable but very unusual for an aircraft in a track system; in RVSM airspace the vertical separation increases from 1000 to 2000ft above FL410.

In terms of feasibility here are some altitudes from my log near Belfast yesterday. Mode-S broadcasts the data to 25ft resolution.

47000 GLF5
45000 GLF5
45000 GLF4
45000 GLEX
45000 GL5T
45000 E55P
43000 GLEX
43000 FA50
43000 B788
41050 F900
41000 GLF5
41000 GLF4
41000 GLEX
41000 FA8X
41000 FA7X
41000 C25B
41000 B789
41000 B788
41000 B772
41000 B737
41000 A359
41000 A333
41000 A332


This one is the all-time record genuine altitude, they only need to report FL600 but are usually much higher:

60000 U2

And sometimes the bogus data is amusing:

60300 R44

Danbo!

Hit FL430 in a 787 before. It was in 2014ish I think, and I had just read max alt was 43,100 before boarding.

Should have a pic of the IFE screen somewhere, I'll dig it out. Here's the view

Irish Steve

No longer happening, the tracks used by Concorde were a cruise climb, with a peak at FL600, which they did reach on a regular basis.

jetfiremuck

Lear jet longhorn 51000' some plane classic lines . One of the few planes that can climb directly after take off to 51000'

Foggy43

Currently BA102 G-ZBJA (B787-8) is over Donegall cruising at 43,100ft with BA288 G-CIVY (B747-400) cruising 4,000 ft below it.

Comhrá

G-TUIF cruising at fl430 en route from Punta Cana to Manchester