What is a flight standby?
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Usually these are aircrafts inbound to the airport in distress. These require a specific number of fire/ems resources to be dispatched ahead of the arriving aircraft. In our area, they also advise how many "souls on board" (number of people on the aircraft) to the incoming units.
clanusb
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they are most likely getting called out and being put to "stand by" or staging awaiting the arrival of the plane in question. i.e. being placed into position so that as soon as the plane touches down, and shuts down, they are right there to administer what aid is needed.
its fairly common up here in north cal.
we usually send ARFF rigs and a full structure assignment whenever a plane calls in with an emergency.
its fairly common up here in north cal.
we usually send ARFF rigs and a full structure assignment whenever a plane calls in with an emergency.
Single Engine responses are usually a medical emergency on an incoming flight... San Jose get's them daily, usually includes Gate Number and expected arrival time. Actually in San Jose they send an engine from nearby and the small Rescue 20 rig from the Airport station... ARFF equipment doesn't roll to Terminal Medical events. If the Engine gets there before the plane they release the Airport rescue rig.
Which airports are you hearing this at?
A lot of uncontrolled central valley airports are served by Part 121 air carrier service that aren't necessarily big enough to have ARFF equipment and stations staffed on the field. I'm not 100% sure about the laws regarding ARFF equipment being present vs. available for scheduled Part 121 operations, or how they would get around NOT having an on airport ARFF fire station. If the airport only has one flight a day and you're hearing this EVERY day and it's in a small community, "flight standby" might literally mean "go to the airport and standby to meet the FAA regulation saying ARFF equipment must be available for Part 121 air carrier passenger flights" while the aircraft is on the ground.
Just an alternative theory.
Maybe you ARE getting one in-flight emergency or medical emergency per day but I was under the impression you were in a rural area and if that's the case then it's highly doubtful you're hearing these dispatches for that reason.
I know the requirements for on-hand firefighting equipment are pretty stringent for Part 121, and this is never an issue at large airports because there's a fire station on the field. At a small field in a small community, they may have to get creative to meet these requirements...
Regards,
Inigo
A lot of uncontrolled central valley airports are served by Part 121 air carrier service that aren't necessarily big enough to have ARFF equipment and stations staffed on the field. I'm not 100% sure about the laws regarding ARFF equipment being present vs. available for scheduled Part 121 operations, or how they would get around NOT having an on airport ARFF fire station. If the airport only has one flight a day and you're hearing this EVERY day and it's in a small community, "flight standby" might literally mean "go to the airport and standby to meet the FAA regulation saying ARFF equipment must be available for Part 121 air carrier passenger flights" while the aircraft is on the ground.
Just an alternative theory.
Maybe you ARE getting one in-flight emergency or medical emergency per day but I was under the impression you were in a rural area and if that's the case then it's highly doubtful you're hearing these dispatches for that reason.
I know the requirements for on-hand firefighting equipment are pretty stringent for Part 121, and this is never an issue at large airports because there's a fire station on the field. At a small field in a small community, they may have to get creative to meet these requirements...
Regards,
Inigo
bigbtb
Member
I don't normally monitor Visalia's stuff too often but I may just start now. This has me curious if I'd hear anything as well.
I'd tend to think it's a rules and regulations thing, but giving the flight numbers and eta kind of says to me that it may actually be a medical issue which is requiring them to respond. Visalia may not be a gigantic airport but it gets its fair share of traffic so I suppose it's definitely possible. Another thing which crossed my mind was the hospital's trauma level changed recently. I suppose it's possible they're having to pick up patients at the airport until they can get the helipad in order.
I'd tend to think it's a rules and regulations thing, but giving the flight numbers and eta kind of says to me that it may actually be a medical issue which is requiring them to respond. Visalia may not be a gigantic airport but it gets its fair share of traffic so I suppose it's definitely possible. Another thing which crossed my mind was the hospital's trauma level changed recently. I suppose it's possible they're having to pick up patients at the airport until they can get the helipad in order.
Here in my area of northern AZ this is also know as an ALERT 1.
Alert 1: Indicates an aircraft is having minor difficulties (i.e., a minor oil leak; one engine out on a three or four-engine commercial aircraft or one engine out on a two-engine general aviation aircraft; fire warning lights; etc.). A safe landing is expected. The ARFF crew is dispatched and just remains available in quarters.
Interestingly, whenever the local commercial flight or an airtanker (this is an USFS tanker base) is arriving/departing, an ARFF unit is required to be availiable at the field. If the station crew is on the structure rig and on another call away from the field, another station is toned out to standby. The engine is expected to move up to the airport station, and is not dispatched on another call until the standby is cleared.
We also use:
Alert 2: Indicates that an aircraft is having major difficulties (i.e. a positive indication of fire on board the aircraft; faulty landing gear; no hydraulic pressure; engine failure on a two-engine large aircraft; etc.) A difficult or crash landing may be expected. A full crash assigment is sent Code 2 (no lights/sirens)
Alert 3: Indicates that an aircraft has crashed on or off the airport, or there is a high probability the aircraft will crash, or the pilot has indicated that the landing gear will not work, and therefore, they will have to crash land on the airport. A full crash assigment is sent Code 3 (with lights/sirens).
Alert 1: Indicates an aircraft is having minor difficulties (i.e., a minor oil leak; one engine out on a three or four-engine commercial aircraft or one engine out on a two-engine general aviation aircraft; fire warning lights; etc.). A safe landing is expected. The ARFF crew is dispatched and just remains available in quarters.
Interestingly, whenever the local commercial flight or an airtanker (this is an USFS tanker base) is arriving/departing, an ARFF unit is required to be availiable at the field. If the station crew is on the structure rig and on another call away from the field, another station is toned out to standby. The engine is expected to move up to the airport station, and is not dispatched on another call until the standby is cleared.
We also use:
Alert 2: Indicates that an aircraft is having major difficulties (i.e. a positive indication of fire on board the aircraft; faulty landing gear; no hydraulic pressure; engine failure on a two-engine large aircraft; etc.) A difficult or crash landing may be expected. A full crash assigment is sent Code 2 (no lights/sirens)
Alert 3: Indicates that an aircraft has crashed on or off the airport, or there is a high probability the aircraft will crash, or the pilot has indicated that the landing gear will not work, and therefore, they will have to crash land on the airport. A full crash assigment is sent Code 3 (with lights/sirens).
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Oops you said Visalia FD, so it's Visalia Municipal Airport (KVIS). Sorry!
Visalia Muni is served by Great Lakes Aviation Ltd (phonetic call sign "Lakes Air") which operates several Part 121 (meaning scheduled) Beech 1900 passenger flights to the airport from Ontario Int'l (KONT) and Merced Muni (KMCE) each day. As for Part 135 (meaning on demand) air cargo, Westair Industries Inc (phonetic call sign "Pac Valley") flies Cessna 208 Caravans painted in FedEx colors in and out from Fresno Int'l (KFAT), Oakland Int'l (KOAK) and other destinations. Ameriflight ("Amflight") flies Piper PA-31 Navajos and Beech 99s in from destinations around California (namely OAK, FAT, ONT, BFL, etc).
FlightAware > Live Flight Tracker > Visalia Muni Airport (Visalia, CA) [KVIS/VIS]
This is what I'm inclined to believe is going on. The passenger flight would be operated scheduled Part 121, while I believe the USFS air tanker would be operated Part 135 "on-demand" (if anyone knows for sure correct me if I'm wrong and it's just regular Part 91). In the case of Visalia, the Beech 1900, Beech 99 and Cessna 208 are all relatively large turboprop aircraft.
A turboprop engine is literally a small jet engine burning regular jet fuel, hooked up through a mechanical gear box to turn a propeller. Thus, while they're very safe and reliable engines they're occasionally prone to some common emergencies associated with jet engines such as "hot starts" (runaway EGT) and engine fires and such, as well as emergencies all complex high performance aircraft are prone to such as brake fires, gear up landings, etc. With private and corporate aircraft being operated Part 91 I believe the ARFF requirements are pretty relaxed - placing evacuation responsibilities on the crew to allow the aircraft to be operated into a wide range of unattended airports at any hour.
Obviously dispatching a fire engine to every single airport (without an ARFF station) any time a private aircraft lands or departs from there would be extremely costly on funds and staffing and thus will simply never happen.
Once operations become scheduled and a certain threshold of passengers is exceeded the regulations become much more stringent, including the regulations regarding on hand ARFF equipment and personnel. I could imagine the rationale being more passengers = longer evacuation time = more serious emergency and increased likely-hood for fatalities. I imagine this is the case for Part 121, and possibly the 135 guys (although they're flying freight not scheduled passenger service).
If you catch any callsigns, let us know if you hear "Lakes Air", "Pac Valley" or "Amflight." If instead you hear standard registration numbers of private planes or any "Alert" codes, then that theory goes out the window. However, I think radioprescott's above evaluation of what is involved in the flight standby is correct. It sounds like it is simply a precautionary measure being taken to satisfy FAA regulations regarding the operation of scheduled air carrier aircraft out of an airport as small as Visalia.
Interesting discussion!
Inigo
As far as I can tell they just dispatch "Flight #so and so is arriving with a 15 minute ETA. And like I said in earlier posts, I showed up one night and it was a small jet that was coming off the runway. I thank everyone for your expertise in flight, made me want to include AM traffic into my daily monitoring. Just FYI its usually Engine 53, which is based at the airport.
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