Flightradar24 Interesting Finds

[MossRoad]

Not radar related...

Wife and I went to Mendard's Friday night and there's a Holiday Inn Express next door. She said there's a helicopter at the hotel. What?

Sure enough, in a weedy vacant lot next to the hotel was a helicopter tied down for the night. It had spray bars and a tank under it. So, I looked up the N number and it belongs to a spraying company out of Louisiana that specializes in power line and pipe line right-of-way spraying. That would explain the two large tank trucks with helipads on top of the tanks and Louisiana plates that were in the parking lot.

Looked them up on flight tracker and saw where they were apparently spraying south of us.

 

[dmccarty]

I refer to AFL1788 being not very far behind the airplane carrying Prigozhin that was likely shot down. They were on the same flight path, similar altitudes; AFL1788 wasn't that far behind the ill-fated flight, which at least on my browser at the link provided showed the playback of the last moments:
View attachment 818565

Yep, I understand. I assume the airplanes could see each other As could other airplanes, flight website users, the Russian government, governments, etc.

My original thought about the second plane was that it turned around because someone knew that the first plane was going to get brought down. Flip side, they could have seen the first plane disappear and decided it was best to turn around. I doubt we will ever know what really happened.

 

[ning]

Yep, I understand. I assume the airplanes could see each other As could other airplanes, flight website users, the Russian government, governments, etc.

My original thought about the second plane was that it turned around because someone knew that the first plane was going to get brought down. Flip side, they could have seen the first plane disappear and decided it was best to turn around. I doubt we will ever know what really happened.

Right; I meant "see" as in

with the eyes

I may "see" the plane on fr24, but I quite literally did not see the plane.

I suspect AFL1788 may have seen the plane.
I strongly suspect a ground unit of the MoD saw the plane, though whether or not the actual government (beyond Shoigu) knew about this will remain opaque.

Never know if they (AFL1788) turned around or not, though, plane motions and actual positions on fr24 aren't always reflective of reality (just look at the path of ra-02795 as it seems to fly another 30km after it crashed to the ground)... because... we can't actually SEE the plane.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

4 hot air balloons? 8-29-2023

 

[dmccarty]

Right; I meant "see" as in

with the eyes

I may "see" the plane on fr24, but I quite literally did not see the plane.

I suspect AFL1788 may have seen the plane.
I strongly suspect a ground unit of the MoD saw the plane, though whether or not the actual government (beyond Shoigu) knew about this will remain opaque.

Never know if they (AFL1788) turned around or not, though, plane motions and actual positions on fr24 aren't always reflective of reality (just look at the path of ra-02795 as it seems to fly another 30km after it crashed to the ground)... because... we can't actually SEE the plane.

Ah! I finally see what you are saying.

Started up Google Earth Pro, don't know how we lived without it, and using the chart you posted, it would seem that the two planes were withing 10 miles or so of each other. Not sure if they could see a small plane with the Mark I eyeball at that distance. The video of the plane right after the explosion showed the explosion but no contrails from the plane. The following plane might have seen the flash of the explosion though.

One report at the time said that the second plane turned around BEFORE the explosion. Another report said the plane was shot down by a SAM. Then the US said that there was no missile launch detected. One of the cabin crew said the plane was delayed for a needed repair at which time a bomb could have been planted. However, there was another report that said the plane was for sale and was visited by potential buyers prior to the flight. Heck there is a video running around today implying Mr. Wagner is alive and well in Africa. What is the truth? What is disinformation?

 

[dmccarty]

I did not get a screen capture, but twice over the last week or two, I have seen one of the E6's flying. The E6 is a flying command post, aka, Looking Glass, that take over command if the ground base is destroyed or can't communicate. The first flight I saw flew over NC, flew out over the Gulf of Mexico, then returned to NC and did a couple of race track patterns between Raleigh and Fayetteville before returning to base. The second flight I saw few over NC, down to GA where it flew out over the Atlantic before coming ashore over GA or SC, flying back over Raleigh before returning to base.

Another interesting flight I saw was a Chinese airline 747 that flies once a week, on Monday, From JKF to Charleston. That is a very odd flight since I don't see many 747's flying, and the ones I see are cargo, or possibly leased, that fly almost always overseas. I would like to know if that flight is full and do that many people in China fly to Charleston, SC to vacation?

 

[Carl_NH]

Airbus US factory is in Charleston and could be delivering large frame parts or other assemblies for the Airbus plant. Clear's customs in JFK and then flies south?

 

[dmccarty]

Airbus US factory is in Charleston and could be delivering large frame parts or other assemblies for the Airbus plant. Clear's customs in JFK and then flies south?

What a great idea!

Looked it up, and while I could not find anything that says major parts of the 787 are made in China, there are parts made in Japan, Korea, and Italy. The Wikipedia article does say Boing is using four 747's to move parts to Charleston. I will have to try to see the 747 on Monday's and see if there is anymore information on the flight.

 

[dmccarty]

Over the weekend I saw a C5M which I don't think I have seen before. Also saw another E6 flying around and landing at airports.

Today, I noticed two C5M's crossing near each other. I think one landed in Charlotte.

 

[Carl_NH]

What a great idea!

Looked it up, and while I could not find anything that says major parts of the 787 are made in China, there are parts made in Japan, Korea, and Italy. The Wikipedia article does say Boing is using four 747's to move parts to Charleston. I will have to try to see the 747 on Monday's and see if there is anymore information on the flight.

It's not that the parts are made in China - the lessee of the 747 may be china based and contracted to deliver parts weekly from around the world.