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If you've ever flown one of United's 757s back from Europe, you know this firsthand. Has anyone else visited scenic Goose Bay, Canada recently?
by joezydeco 10y ago
If you've ever flown one of United's 757s back from Europe, you know this firsthand.
Has anyone else visited scenic Goose Bay, Canada recently?
- kornish 10y agoFlew over Goose Bay going from Denver to Reykjavik in a 757, but that was IcelandAir and not United. Beautiful!
- dkroy 10y agoHaha, sorry this is going over my head. What is the significance of Goose Bay in this conversation?
- Lazare 10y agoProbably this: http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/06/14/united-strands-hundreds-in-remote-goose-bay-canada-for-20-hours/ http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/06/14/united-str...
- joezydeco 10y agoUnited gained a fleet of long-range 757s from the merger with Continental Airlines. These are smaller planes (but ETOPS certified) with smaller crews, which is good for United's bottom line. 757s can make it across the Atlantic, as long as conditions are good and there are easy winds. On the westbound return flights, and this happens more than United will care to admit, the headwinds can be too strong and the flight needs to refuel in Goose Bay before continuing to the United States. This typically adds an unexpected 90 minutes to the flight, which can really screw you up if you're trying to clear immigration and make your connecting flight. You usually don't learn of this fate until you arrive at the terminal for boarding.
- niftich 10y agoSeveral sources substantiate this claim. [1] (from 2012) http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203436904577152974098241982 http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014240529702034369045771529... [2] (from 2012) http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/transatlantic-flights-forced-by-wind-to-land-for-fuel-1.1205359 http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/transatlantic-flights-forced-by... [3] (from 2015) https://www.thestar.com/business/2015/01/14/strong-jet-stream-forcing-airliners-to-make-labrador-retrievals.html https://www.thestar.com/business/2015/01/14/strong-jet-strea... [4] (from 2015) http://mashable.com/2015/01/09/boeing-757-flight-diversions/ http://mashable.com/2015/01/09/boeing-757-flight-diversions/
- joezydeco 10y agoOr I could have just shared the photos I took out the window from my last STR-EWR flight. =)
- ghaff 10y agoGoose Bay in Labrador and Gander in Newfoundland are the old refueling stations between the US and Europe (originally Shannon Ireland). They're still capable of handling large jets so they're typically the landing spots if there are fuel or other issues such as medical emergencies with planes flying over the North Atlantic.
- ptaipale 10y agoThere's this somewhat interesting movie about 9/11 in Gander: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1303829/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1303829/ Of course, what actually got me there was Hercule Poirot as a grandstanding businessman and Sergeant Pascoe in another prominent role.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- bogomipz 10y agoI am not following you. Why is visiting Goose Bay relevant? Going over Greenland is usually part of the Great Circle route used between the East Coast in the US and UK/EU but I'm not familiar with Goose Bay.
- pmarreck 10y agoAnother reply in thread explained it. Goose Bay is the United refueling destination when unexpectedly strong headwinds prevent a continuous flight to the US.
- bogomipz 10y agoFascinating. I had no idea. I'm surprised they don't use Gander International in Newfoundland. This used to be where nearly all trans-atlantic flights refueled before the arrival of the "jet age." Its a pretty important place still. In fact Gandar is still responsible for all air traffic control over the Western North Atlantic airspace. In fact your plane talks to them until it switches over to Shannon on the West coast of Ireland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gander_International_Airport https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gander_International_Airport I've heard there's a cocktail lounge there and the pictures on wall of the visitors that passed through Gander are a cultural "who's who" of the 20th century - everyone from the Beatles, to Nehru, Kennedy, Elvis, Castro, Garbo etc, have their pictures on the wall. You basically had to pass through Gander to take a transatlantic flight.