Firework Danger at Heathrow?
 

Coming back along the A30 this evening it was like a war-zone, with Diwali
fireworks all over the sky in the Cranford / Hatton / Hounslow West area.

These pyrotechnics were exploding uncomfortably close to aircraft on their
decent to Heathrow, all around and even seemingly above the aircraft.

I know that aircraft landing is mainly automated, but surely this activity
is dangerous to aircraft safety as it can only serve to distract pilots on
final approach. Surely they could have banned fireworks on aircraft
approaches as part of the recent Fireworks act.

Colin

Firework Danger at Heathrow?
 

Colin wrote:
Coming back along the A30 this evening it was like a war-zone, with
Diwali fireworks all over the sky in the Cranford / Hatton /
Hounslow West area.
These pyrotechnics were exploding uncomfortably close to aircraft
on their decent to Heathrow, all around and even seemingly above
the aircraft.

Possibly true, but how do you know they were "uncomfortably close"?
Judging the relative positions of fireworks and aircraft in three
dimensions at night is difficult enough, but probably impossible if you
yourself are moving. It's very easy to misjudge completely the position
of a plane relative to the ground.

I know that aircraft landing is mainly automated, but surely this
activity is dangerous to aircraft safety as it can only serve to
distract pilots on final approach. Surely they could have banned
fireworks on aircraft approaches as part of the recent Fireworks
act.

It may have been contrary to CAA guidelines, as published at
http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP736.PDF

Prosecution is not unknown, for example see
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=132552006

--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

Firework Danger at Heathrow?
 

"Richard J." wrote in message
. uk...
Colin wrote:
Coming back along the A30 this evening it was like a war-zone, with
Diwali fireworks all over the sky in the Cranford / Hatton /
Hounslow West area.
These pyrotechnics were exploding uncomfortably close to aircraft
on their decent to Heathrow, all around and even seemingly above
the aircraft.

Possibly true, but how do you know they were "uncomfortably close"?
Judging the relative positions of fireworks and aircraft in three
dimensions at night is difficult enough, but probably impossible if you
yourself are moving. It's very easy to misjudge completely the position
of a plane relative to the ground.

I know that aircraft landing is mainly automated, but surely this
activity is dangerous to aircraft safety as it can only serve to
distract pilots on final approach. Surely they could have banned
fireworks on aircraft approaches as part of the recent Fireworks
act.

It may have been contrary to CAA guidelines, as published at
http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP736.PDF

Prosecution is not unknown, for example see
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=132552006

--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

The fireworks were exploding all over the area. There was certainly no
attempt at an 'exclusion zone' along the glide slope, so there was the
potential for rockets to actually hit the planes.

At this particular point prior to landing the planes are about 400-500ft
above the ground. Rockets explode between 300 and 800ft in general. So if
there are no controls there is of course a chance they could hit a plane.

But apart from hitting a plane, there is the much higher probability of
fireworks distracting a pilot on final approach.

The police weren't stopping the fireworks which were going off around here
well after midnight last night (in breach of the new law). There were so
many fireworks you would have needed a major operation from the Met to stop
it altogether (and imagine the outrage then).

Colin

Firework Danger at Heathrow?
 

On Sun, 22 Oct 2006 00:53:27 +0100, "Colin"
wrote:

Coming back along the A30 this evening it was like a war-zone, with Diwali
fireworks

Oh, is that what they were? I was wondering - with the amount we had
going off near me I thought my calendar was two weeks slow... :)

Firework Danger at Heathrow?
 

Colin wrote:
The fireworks were exploding all over the area. There was certainly
no attempt at an 'exclusion zone' along the glide slope, so there
was the potential for rockets to actually hit the planes.

At this particular point prior to landing the planes are about
400-500ft above the ground. Rockets explode between 300 and 800ft
in general. So if there are no controls there is of course a chance
they could hit a plane.

According to www.fireworksafety.co.uk rockets on sale to the general
public reach 40-120 m, roughly 130-395 ft. The CAA don't seem as
concerned as you, issuing only *guidance*, and only for organisers of
major displays. I suggest you write to them (CAA) if you're concerned.

But apart from hitting a plane, there is the much higher
probability of fireworks distracting a pilot on final approach.

The police weren't stopping the fireworks which were going off
around here well after midnight last night (in breach of the new
law).

The new law (The Fireworks Regulations 2004) allows fireworks to
continue until 01:00 on the night of Diwali (and similarly for New
Year's Eve and the Chinese New Year, and until midnight on 5th
November).

--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

Firework Danger at Heathrow?
 

"Richard J." wrote in message
.uk...

The police weren't stopping the fireworks which were going off
around here well after midnight last night (in breach of the new
law).

The new law (The Fireworks Regulations 2004) allows fireworks to continue
until 01:00 on the night of Diwali (and similarly for New Year's Eve and
the Chinese New Year, and until midnight on 5th November).

They were still going off at 0130 when I finally dropped off. So much for
the new regulations.....

Firework Danger at Heathrow?
 

Colin wrote:

"Richard J." wrote in message
.uk...

The police weren't stopping the fireworks which were going off
around here well after midnight last night (in breach of the new
law).

The new law (The Fireworks Regulations 2004) allows fireworks to continue
until 01:00 on the night of Diwali (and similarly for New Year's Eve and
the Chinese New Year, and until midnight on 5th November).

They were still going off at 0130 when I finally dropped off. So much for
the new regulations.....

It's only once a year, don't be such a grump!

Firework Danger at Heathrow?
 

On Sun, 22 Oct 2006 11:54:17 GMT, "Richard J."
wrote:

The new law (The Fireworks Regulations 2004) allows fireworks to
continue until 01:00 on the night of Diwali [...] and until midnight on 5th
November).

Cue outrage from the Daily Mail...

Firework Danger at Heathrow?
 

Mizter T wrote:
It's only once a year, don't be such a grump!

4 times a year (Diwali, Chineese New Year, western new year, 5th
November -- and the later lasts a week)

Firework Danger at Heathrow?
 

"Paul Weaver" wrote in message
ups.com...
Mizter T wrote:
It's only once a year, don't be such a grump!

4 times a year (Diwali, Chineese New Year, western new year, 5th
November -- and the later lasts a week)

Won't somebody PLEASE think of the children! noooo!!!

it's just fireworks.

Firework Danger at Heathrow?
 

"James Farrar" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 22 Oct 2006 11:54:17 GMT, "Richard J."
wrote:

The new law (The Fireworks Regulations 2004) allows fireworks to
continue until 01:00 on the night of Diwali [...] and until midnight on
5th
November).

Cue outrage from the Daily Mail...

You beat me to it :-P hehehe

Firework Danger at Heathrow?
 

"Mizter T" typed

It's only once a year, don't be such a grump!

It's only 'once a year' if you count the month from October 5th to
November 5th as 'once'.

There were detonations here well after Brent's theoretical 11pm 'ceasefire'.

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

Firework Danger at Heathrow?
 

On 22 Oct 2006 22:46:05 -0700, "Paul Weaver"
wrote:

Mizter T wrote:
It's only once a year, don't be such a grump!

4 times a year (Diwali, Chineese New Year, western new year, 5th
November -- and the later lasts a week)

Shouldn't be so much of a problem this year with it falling on a
Sunday. I hope.

Firework Danger at Heathrow?
 

In article , Richard J.
writes
These pyrotechnics were exploding uncomfortably close to aircraft
on their decent to Heathrow, all around and even seemingly above
the aircraft.
Possibly true, but how do you know they were "uncomfortably close"?
Judging the relative positions of fireworks and aircraft in three
dimensions at night is difficult enough, but probably impossible if you
yourself are moving. It's very easy to misjudge completely the
position of a plane relative to the ground.

I was up the Telecom Tower last night, so about 150m above ground level.
There were a number of firework displays visible but, in every case,
they were well *below* us. [The lights of Canary Wharf gave an easy way
to check that we weren't being fooled as to where the horizon was.] I
doubt that any of them were as high as 75m.

Aircraft land at an angle of about 0.05 radians, so that's the height of
a plane 1500m (under a mile) from touchdown.

--
Clive D.W. Feather | Home:
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