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The outage seems to be in receiving reports from weather stations (primarily airports). When arriving at an airport, a pilot is required to confirm they have t
by w10-1 4y ago
The outage seems to be in receiving reports from weather stations (primarily airports).
When arriving at an airport, a pilot is required to confirm they have the latest METAR information for the site. It's presumed negligence when pilots don't know the weather. This is because weather is the #1 environmental factor in accidents.
But the actual use of weather in flying (esp. for commercial flights) is not via METAR but via in-cockpit radar. This is an FAA-sponsored service, but it's unclear if that's affected.
So it seems to be more administrative than safety, but just as disabling.
- xxpor 4y agoDoes in cockpit radar actually get you on the ground pressure?
- jaywalk 4y agoNo, of course not. But pilots aren't going to aviationweather.gov while they're flying, either. They get that info from the controller or ATIS.
- fnordpiglet 4y agoNo doubt. Inflight Wi-Fi is absurdly expensive. No way they’re paying for it.
- RosanaAnaDana 4y agoI think its $8 a flight on Alaska. Doesn't seem that outlandish.
- xxpor 4y agoMaybe I misunderstand what was actually down then. It was just the website, not the actual weather reports that ATC has access to?
- mwint 4y agoNo, those come from ground reporting stations which feed into a whole bunch of sources - online stuff will give it to you including Foreflight, or just key up the ATIS and listen for a few seconds. Or ask a controller.
- tass 4y agoYou say radar, but I think what you might mean is ads-b[0]. This is the system where weather info (among other information) is transmitted from a network of ground stations. [0]: https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/technology/adsb/pilot https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/technology/adsb/pilot
- andrewmunsell 4y agoFor what it's worth, there are also actually on-board radar systems in some aircraft
- tass 4y agoYes there are but they don’t give you enough information to decide whether you can land at an airport. ADS-B gives you METAR, for instance.