Are arrivals posted based on calculation?

I recently flew N2112K from ISP to HEF. My arrival time shows the time that would be assumed if one calculated the arrival time from the take off time and the distance enroute.

In reality as you progress through the ADIZ they vector you all over the place adding 30 minutes or so to the total time.

I told someone to use Flightaware to be aware of our arrival time. They thought we arrived at 2:00pm when in reality our arrival was 2:45.

Is this the way the system works or should the arrival time be available as the ACTUAL arrival.

There are three arrival times: proposed, estimated, and actual. Prior to a flight, you only see proposed. During a flight, you see proposed and estimated. After the flight, you see actual. You can “help” FlightAware calculate the ETE initially by filing your actual estimated ETE including delays.

Did you cancel IFR at 1807Z? I pulled the raw flight data and we got a flight plan at 15:29Z (proposed 1545Z, 0226ETE), a departure at 1559Z and track data from 1559Z until 1806Z when we got an arrival message. After that, we continued to receive position updates from 1807Z until 1839Z not associated with a flight plan.

It sounds like there was some kind of mistake or confusion that led to that arrival message, which confused the system. The arrival time should be the true arrival time or when you cancel IFR and I don’t think I’ve seen this anomaly before.

No I never cancelled IFR prematurely, but that piece of flight time you mentioned would have reflected the true flight time. Interesting.

RichRaine

I have seen flight times end on occasion when a squak code was changed.

Like 1200? :wink: