When I was tracking this flight today (2008-11-15) it said the flight landed 18 minutes into it, yet it was evident from the radar track that it was still mid-flight.
Something for the FlightAware technical people to look into
As mentioned in the Questions/Answers*, flight time is shown from wheels-up to wheels-down, not gate-to-gate.
The scheduled flight time shows 75 minutes. If you take away an estimated 25 minutes ground time (i.e. gate to take-off at JFK and landing to gate at BDL), you’re down to 50 minutes.
FlightAware only tracks data in the national computer system. Once the aircraft is handed over to a local controller (e.g. approach), then the flight is considered to have arrived. Looking at the history of FRL6282, it appears the flight ends south of BDL. This is where the local controller takes over.
*Should be required reading for anybody new to FlightAware, along with browsing the forums. Also, old timers to FlightAware should brush up on the information contained the Questions/Answers once in a while.
Basically, FA’s time is because it tracks takeoff to landing. Delta’s time is gate to gate. Its quite amazing how much time they set aside for taxing. One reason driving can sometimes be quicker than flying.
I am so excited for my 1000th post!!!
It’s what’s called Block Time. The airline blocks a specific chunk of time for a flight. http://flightaware.com/live/flight/MES3178 is another one like that. Flightaware reports a flight time of 4 minutes. Actual block time gate to gate is somewhere around 25-35 minutes last I checked.
