KLM602 from LAX to AMS, for June 6, 7, 8 (2009) has arrival times that are about three hours earlier than reality, resulting in ridiculously short flight times. Flight times for some other dates are even stranger (3 June 2009, 3:47 from Los Angeles to Amsterdam!). The June 9, 2009 flight has an “unknown” arrival time, but it really arrived, more or less as scheduled, at 13:07 (not sure if that is gate time).
I realize that there is no tracking across Europe, so I’m not sure how these times are obtained. Maybe they are entered in the wrong time zone?
At the bottom of my post is I realize that there is no tracking across Europe. So looks like I was already aware of that.
But if there is no valid data, then just leave the entry blank or say “unknown”. Among the possible actions, making up an arbitrary number seems the least useful. Saying a flight from LAX to AMS took less than 4 hours is clearly an error. (It can’t even make it outside the tracking area in that time.)
I did in fact read the Questions/Answers link. To “I see a consistent discrepancy or anomaly in tracking data. What should I do?” it answers “Please bring it up in the public discussions.” That’s what I did. Not because I wanted to complain, but because I assumed that someone wants to know about errors.
It’s not only across Europe but anyplace that is outside of the FAA’s jurisdiction. (There is some Canadian data, though.)
The four hours you refer to is the time the aircraft was in the FAA’s sphere of influence. It was not an arbitrarily made up time nor was it a clerical error.
I **never **said there was a requirement to read the questions/answers so please do **not **imply that I did. What I said was that enhance his enjoyment of the site.
It’s always good to read the instructions for something (e.g. your computer, software, automobile) so you can learn about stuff that may not be so obvious. Same thing for this and other web sites. Reading the FAQs is quite often helpful.
Had he thoroughly read the questions/answers, he would have seen this (my emphasis):
How does FlightAware handle international flights?
Short answer: Not very well.
Long answer: FlightAware can only track aircraft that are being tracked by the FAA, which means aircraft only in the United States. For flights arriving in the US from an international origin, FlightAware will be able to track the flight once it is handed off to the US. For flights departing the US for an international destination, FlightAware will be able to track the flight until it leaves the US and then it will be lost with no arrival ever recorded or the arrival time will be the time it left the US.
That was (edit of the BS by me)a much better answer than the first one. If you feel compelled to answer why not try speaking to the poster, instead of speaking DOWN to the poster. Stop with the lectures already
International flights usually generate a cancellation message when they leave US airspace, or we just stop receiving positions for them. When a flight disappears, we call it arrived shortly after since it left our service area.
