I flew the Boeing 757 into San Diego dozens of times before my retirement from United Airlines in 2015 and rate it and LaGuardia as the 2 toughest airports to land at during my career. If memory serves, Runway 27 had a threshold displaced 2,600 feet. While the runway was 9,401 feet long, with the 2,600 foot displaced threshold, we only really had 6,800 feet for landing, 200 feet shorter than at LGA. We hardly noticed the hill, but that damned parking garage always got our attention! You can see the parking garage at the 7:47 mark in the video. Thanks for the memories!
was it urban legend or truth that the Parking Garage encouraged pilots to park in their garage on top deck? Story we in San Diego have heard since it was built. BTW the controversy about that garage never led to its removal unlike the office tower near Montgomery Field which had its top 2 stores lopped off when it was revealed a crooked San Diego Mayor allowed the developer to build taller than he should have been allowed.
@@ddhsd i remember that bloody office building being built - i told my dad that it looked awfully tall to be that close to the end of the runway. Then we both laughed when the top two floors were 'unbuilt' - what a waste of money!
@@altemp100 it's pretty scary when you're driving on the 5 past the end of 27 and the parking garage and can pretty much count the rivets on the underbelly of a big jet . . . and notice that the jet is *below* the level of the top floor of the garage as it passes by! [we were so PISSED when that garage went up!]
I grew up in Hong Kong and lived in one of those 4 story buildings less than 1/2 mile to Kai Tak Airport. Those 747 used to head directly west onto the mountain behind us, then made a 360 turn to east at the sight of the "checkerboard". Leveled from 45 degree tilt, then passed less than 40 feet over our roof. Then crabbing onto the runway. I had no idea what the glide slope looked like. They even did that in strong wind and rain. They took off the same way. Those were the best pilots in the world. I loved to see 747 sitting on our roof, Years later, my dream came true, I became a Manufacturing Engineer working on the 747 line in Boeing Everett, WA. Then 777, 787.
Oh my gosh, I am 72 yrs of age and seeing this landing in San Diego is almost my dream come true……number one dream is to be sitting in the copilots seat. Thank you. Ken M. Loveland, CO.
Much respect - I don't understand how these guys can understand each other when they're talking over each other pretty much non-stop. That stuff drives me nuts.
@@Joe-bm4wx That might explain why I could never be a pilot, though the thought had crossed my mind at one time. I also have hearing loss, which might also explain things.
@@user-sz1dk4tw2oDefinitely agree. Our brains have to do so much more calculations when we miss a lot of the full spectrum of speech and sometimes it’s just too much. However, when it’s a situation repeated many times that’s much like the difference between learning a language and growing up with it, to me anyway.
Concerning that the PIC doesn't know what side of the lines he needs to be on...time for some additional training. No room for "close enough" on runway incursions.
Taking off from San Diego is another beautiful view. When planes heading East make the left turn a couple miles out over the ocean, you can see the entire coastline if you're sitting by the window on the right side, and the left you'll also see the coastline and Coronado Bridge. A few years back, I saw large pod whales from my window seat.
@@MichaelSmith-df5pz Yes, I agree with you about those left turns further out into the ocean and then the turning sequences begin. That is the same for taking from LAX. Departing Los Angeles I have always seen a couple of super tanker ships parked in the ocean. It is always interesting to me to that!! ☺
@@quackgarage9551 issn't that why there are 2 pilots flying?? so one always there to run checks and watnot ?? :) HEHEHe lets just hope it don't have to get all KLINGON BIRD OF PREY rules on the next vid/landing.... (and how about that go around they forced too, cuz their 130 slopoke incommin speed??? hehe and they still took ''long time'' to get over the ''out of the way'' line... (hold short line)
but we only there rideing seeing an edited video... soo eh... still... seems that there were ''glitches'' in proceedores.... or ''laxadaisychecking'' ??
My grandmother used to take me to Boom Trenchards, a restaurant just to the right of EOR. There were speakers at each table to listen to ATC. Somedays we would just park there and watch the planes land. This was back in '75-'76 time frame. Grandma passed last November. Thank you for the video. Brings back alot of happy memories.
As kids in the mid-70s, we loved Booms. Our parents would take us there once a year as a treat. Their kaiser roll bun cheddar cheeseburgers were still the best I have ever had! (of course, it was ironic that a restaurant named after the Father of the Royal Air Force (Then the Royal Flying Corps) would feature a "kaiser" roll! It was fun to listen to the ATC chatter on the headsets.
@@RighteousReverendDynamite I loved Boom's as well - it started my lifelong interest in flight. And thank you for the kind comment about the food - my dad had oversight of that restaurant and others in the San Diego area in the 70s, and he created that burger. We tried out many test iterations at home and I still remember how good it was. 😊
I like eating dinner at Mr A's off to the right side of the aircraft on final approach. You see these flights coming in and you are about level with the aircraft from the restaurant.
Good for you for telling him to get off the runway. I noticed the same thing at that SNA video. Clearly this isn’t a one time thing, but a deficiency in his pilot training. I would have a serious but polite talk with him when not flying that if he does that again you’ll be talking with the chief pilot about it.
I’m a new pilot (110hrs) and that’s the first thing I thought. I was like dang I can fly that plane if someone said this guy can. Kind of eye opening TBH
I lived in San Diego for 35 years, right below the glide path intercept where you dropped the gear. I saw the school behind my house and the road I lived on.
If you are referring to the large church school on the flight path, it's called the "City Tree". It's a private school in downtown and I actually went to Elementrary school there :)
Former Boeing... Love the smart 'planners' who put a multistory parking garage smack dab in way just before runway... been in and out of SAN multiple times... both on 27 and 9... last time in was on 27 during high winds, driving rain, and wind shear... completely blind... didn't know if we were going to land in parking garage or on runway... very happy it was runway...
@@betho8736 : Likewise. San Diegan born and raised, and for the life of me I also could never understand who signed away on that decision? Of all places, right?
What's the gear clearance over that structure? I don't live in SD, but have been in and out visiting family in Oceanside and have had the same "who put that there" thought.
Most citizens arent aware how challenging this approach is especially with weather or a low ceiling. The Alladin parking structure sits at 5 stories just west of I-5 and requires a steep sink rate prior to landing. It’s crazy in a heavy 777
I flew this approach in FDX B727, MD10 and MD11 aircraft. It was a handful in the 11. San Diego Lindbergh Field is a classic example of retail and city leaders with no appreciation of flight operations.
like even when the fo had to point out that hes not off the runway cuz he didt pass the hold short line is such common stuff and crazy how you can forget that
@@AllAboutAuto31 yeah good job on the FO for being on top of everything, but its not safe that the FO has to tell the captain where to go and to clear the runway when there is traffic on final behind them. I'm very interested to know how that captain found himself in the left seat of a Challenger and who put him there.
Born and raised in San Diego and we lived near the flight path on Pt. Loma. Remember how we would could only talk on the phone between planes. 😂 There was a open air theater in Balboa Park called Starlight Bowl, and in the summer, there would be plays at night. All the actors would stop and wait till the planes went over head. Good times.😊 I really enjoyed seeing the approach from the cockpit perspective.
living in San Diego, I've landed here over a hundred times, but never seen it from that point of view! Always wondered about accessing the east side of the runway (cargo/private) too.
I've landed there as a passenger over 100 times over the last 30 years or so. A few times the pilot has landed long, once so long that the plane landed hard with passengers screaming or gasping at the landing and the breaking afterward. I know we landed long because we take the last exit off the runway. 747s generally don't land there, but back in the late 90s there was a British airline that was doing it pretty regularly.
Recall there was considerable controversy when that parking structure (Laurel Street) was put up, for exactly the reasons discussed in the comments. Always fun flying home to SD, always on the left side (window), great views of the harbor, carriers at North Island, etc. And sometimes on take-off, on the right side, you can see the boots doing obstacles and physical training next door at MCRD. And on the 4th hole of the Balboa 9-hole golf course, the approaching planes come right over you, and fairly low. So glad that 40 years of (mostly thumb-fiddling, wasted) effort failed to move the airport! It's a unique feature of an amazing city.
I lived in San Diego for 47 years. I loved going in and out of San Diego, starting with PSA in the mid-60’s, better known to the military as Poor Sailors Airline. I was bummed when they sold out Southwest. The charm of the airline went away.
My first time into SAN was 1974 while building time for my commercial. I was dual, max gross x-country from Tucson with two pax in a Mooney 201 (M20J). I was getting my 10 hours dual in the Mooney for the insurance and my instructor said. "Let's go to San Diego for lunch." I volunteered two friends to come along as baggage for the max gross component and off we went. This aircraft had manual gear and manual pump flaps. The weather was perfect until we got to the San Diego area. The fog was moving in, and it was Special VFR when we checked in with approach control. This was my first Special VFR arrival and, before I could request it, they sequenced us into the pattern. The little Mooney was FAST! They had me enter a Right Downwind on the North side of the airport about mid-field. There are no speed brakes on a Mooney! I could barely see the airport as I turned downwind and tried to slow down. When I got to maximum gear speed I dropped the gear, still trying to slow down. The tower called my base, and I was still fast and high as I pumped down the flaps while turning base. I had to slip to lose altitude as I turned final. I handled all of that and as I relaxed as we settled on the runway, tower said, "77U, expedite!" We were barely off the runway and I looked over my left shoulder and saw a PSA DC-9 had just landed. Leaving SAN was easy!
Landed here 100 times from the cheap seats. Pretty sweet to see it from this angle. It's absolutely gorgeous, which I'm sure you guys don't get to appreciate cause it looks like there a bit of a needle to thread 😅
Was based at the former Navy training center off Rosecrans St - on foggy days you could see the wingtip vortices of arriving jets, had a wicked sound to them like someone twirling a bullwhip very fast .
The first time I was pic in a citation 2 into San, I asked the mentor pilot in the right seat”any secrets to this approach?” He said “Just don’t bounce off of the parking garage”
As a resident in the 4th and Elm area, We can read the tire manufacturer's logo on the landing gear so every plane coming in gives me a slight "pucker response". I cant imagine a 1st time landing at Lindberg.
In 1969, I had a lady friend who house sat one of the old Victorian houses on the last ridge above the field and directly under the final approach path. It was a 4 floor wooden house, quite large. The jet traffic was so close overhead that you could see the rivets from the widow’s walk tower of the house. Wake turbulence from heavies would shake the house. The house was eventually moved in order to save it.
If you ever get a chance, watch Richard Gere in "Mr Jones" He plays a Bipolar piano player who tries to touch airplanes while standing on top of a roof of an old victorian home in Banker's Hill, San Diego
That lake is Sweetwater Springs Reservoir, and I live very close to it. The San Diego Airport is one of the busiest single runway airports in the world.
I grew up in San Diego with a view of the airport. One 4th of July someone was on that parking structure in front of the runway lighting off sky rockets.
This approach from a passenger view, especially on the left, is stunning. I've heard pp joke one can see people hanging their laundry on apartment windows passing by. Also fun is always the takeoff from Santa Ana. As pilots cut their throttle for noise abatement and level off there is always a feeling of weightlessness. Also, the approaches to 28L/28R are impressive into SFO when pax only see water until the last few seconds until touchdown. I always preferred the left side as a pax, seeing San Mateo come into view and watching hwy 101 become larger and larger...
MCRD just off the right side of the airport. Going through boot camp in 1969 the noise of the jets overhead would drown out the marching commands of the Drill Instructors and make us miss a command. The DI's campaign hat would fly out in front of the platoon like a frisbee. We knew it would be squat trusts forever or some push-ups on knuckles and toes on the asphalt. Ah, good times. 😂
How does a challenger pilot not know to taxi beyond the hold short bars before clear🙇🏻♂️ If he called clear and ATC sequenced another takeoff, it would be a runway incursions….good on the co-pilot 😳
Not true. As long as the Local Controller has not issued a restriction to an exiting aircraft entering an adjacent taxiway while said aircraft is continuing forward movement off the runway, ATC is authorized to utilize anticipated separation in conducting successive operations behind the exiting aircraft (meaning landing OR departing aircraft).
I am a Bass Guide here in San Diego, and can tell you we have some amazing Bass fishing opportunities at all times of the year!! No Quarter Bass Guide, if anyone is interested!
I flew into KSAN many times several years ago as a captain on a Boeing 737, mostly the -300 which had analog displays with no moving map or GPS. All they had then was a localizer approach. There were no GPS approaches that we could use. If you had to shoot that approach to minimums it sometimes resulted in a long landing since the MDA was kind of high. I remember thinking about how close to the landing gear seemed to be to the parking garage that you fly over on short final to RWY 27. Nice video.
What was that controller talking about in the begging about not talking about something important lol. and the swerving all over the place on localizer call. LMAO
I use to have a home right outside of Gaslamp and would fly into San Diego all the time. Crazy airport location. If you are in a certain part of Little Italy the planes will go right over your head.
Thank you for sharing your flight a landing in San Diego International Airport. Really nice and smooth. I use to come in with my former airline on their Airbus 320s and a couple of 757s.😊 San Diego is a beautiful city to fly by closely.
flew as a passenger into San Diego a few years ago, then just a few days ago flew this approach in a 737 sim. wound up having to go around as i was too high rip. still can't get over having to stomp on the brakes with the runway there, such a very foreign feeling.
I used to love flying back to SD for Christmas breaks from school, and especially when the landings were after sunset. The downtown buildings all lit up, and it seemed like we were flying right through them.
So cool! My house is pretty much under the flight path to KSAN and at 2:35 in the video, I can see my neighborhood. You're coming up on Mt. San Miguel (with the antennas on it on your right) and the Sweetwater Reservoir where the helicopter was taking on water, and to the left you see a collection of commercial buildings. The commercial building closest to you is in a chevron shape with a white roof and I'm within walking distance of that building. Regarding the new construction, SAN is building a brand new Terminal 1 (used mostly by Southwest) to replace the small, dated existing Terminal 1. I believe that once the new terminal is open, they'll demolish the old one and then expand the new Terminal 1 even further.
First job after flight instructor, I flew a Piper Cherokee Six, then a Navajo Chieftan LAX to SAN Lindburgh five days a week for about 3 years. I didn't see it on this video but I remember the VASI lights would pulsate on and off. I asked why (finally) and was told it indicated a non-standard glide slope. Yep, it was a little steeper than normal. LOL
For years they talked about trying to move the airport north to where MCAS Miramar is for safety reasons, but then suddenly that talk ended and they started doing major construction on the existing airport property.
i got my student licence through a high school program (this approach flies right over my high school!) and we flew out of Gillespie. The landscape had so many memories . . . i was so nervous that one of my solos was going to be at KSAN; no, it was at Ramona, and some circuits of Brown and Gillespie. But we did overfly KSAN once - whooooo! i got that student licence just before graduating, then discovered just how expensive it was. i wasn't able to continue after that, and i suspect i'd have to start all over now. A few years ago i did finally get to go up in a sailplane - OMG that was marvellous. (Stalls were some of my favourite practise - cut the engine and just let it float . . . i did give the instructor heart failure once when i was too blissed out on the sensation to realise just how close we were getting to Mt Miguel, but he just cleared his throat and i throttled back up. Getting a C172 to stall by myself was hard.) i did love it whilst i was doing it!
Landing at Limburger Field, aim for Pacific Highway and Laurel Street and slide right on in. Oh. By the way, don't let student pilots wear blinders when anywhere near SAN. We don't need any more 727s landing at Nile and Dwight.
@@matthewrammig To be specific, he was cleared for the visual from what was probably the RNAV to 27. I used to fly into SAN a lot in my 26 pilot years and it was always using the VOR/DME backcourse to 27. The two are virtually identical. So, you're absolutely correct: there is no glideslope; however, there is a set of systematic step-downs all the way to REEBO (1800') using either DME equipment or the GPS readouts. Digging a little further, the descent angle from REEBO to SAN is 3.18 degrees, which is, in fact, a steeper descent angle (not correct to call it a glide slope since it is not attached to an ILS) than the standard ILS descent angle of 3 degrees. Boy, do I miss flying.
@@davidmalone9022 yeah, what I think what he meant was “glide path”. Anyway, it’s 3.5° now, and at or above 2000’ at REEBO on the RNAV for 27. So definitely steeper than standard. As you and I know, these step down altitudes are made to keep you alive. I doubt if a flight simulator pilot adheres to/cares about them. lol
If you are referring that we are to blame to for the United go around, thats the tower/approach controller responsibility to create sufficient spacing. If he had any concern he should have instructed us to keep our speed up until a certain part of the final, the same way NY controllers do all the time.
When you're near the airport, on the ground in SD, it's always attention grabbing, to see how the planes drop in suddenly over the hill, and not that high above the rooftops!
Boy that marine layer is coming in. Years ago I was shuttling pilots back and forth to NAS North Island. We were picking up planes used in the Pearl Harbor movie. The last flight of the day had me going directly over SAN both inbound and on departure due to the marine layer completely obscuring the coast. After departure I got on top and headed home to Long Beach.
Thanks for the reply. Like your name of “fort-love” airport. I could only afford to get my private pilot license, but I do remember my ground school instructor who flew for a private corporation saying that flying can sometimes be hours of boredom followed by moments of shear terror. Stay safe.
Not too sure about PF letting go of the yoke immediately after touchdown there and going to the tiller... There's steering on the pedals and the airplane is still flying at that point. Transition needs to be made but IMO that was WAY too early... If I NEED to go to tiller early, I always transfer the yoke to the PNF before I do it... Not just let it go...
San Diego desperately needs a second runway. If the Marine Corps would give just a little of their MCRD to the airport, they would lose a couple of sports fields and some parking spaces.
Feels like you guys aren't quite on the same page. The energy seems off in several videos 😬 kind of hard to watch, but I do love the quality of your videos. Hope you'll be able to find a better partner in due time (if you think it's necessary) 🙏🏿
Aside from the fact that he didn’t just clear the runway somehow and let ground figure things out from there, this CA was very quick to let go of the yoke and get on the tiller. Did not transfer “tops” to the FO and the FO also didn’t take them. Had a gust picked up across the runway when they were still on the high speed portion of the rollout that could’ve been interesting.
As a native San Diegan, I have made this approach tons of times, but only seeing it from the passenger's perspective. This was AWESOME!!!
I flew the Boeing 757 into San Diego dozens of times before my retirement from United Airlines in 2015 and rate it and LaGuardia as the 2 toughest airports to land at during my career. If memory serves, Runway 27 had a threshold displaced 2,600 feet. While the runway was 9,401 feet long, with the 2,600 foot displaced threshold, we only really had 6,800 feet for landing, 200 feet shorter than at LGA. We hardly noticed the hill, but that damned parking garage always got our attention! You can see the parking garage at the 7:47 mark in the video. Thanks for the memories!
was it urban legend or truth that the Parking Garage encouraged pilots to park in their garage on top deck? Story we in San Diego have heard since it was built. BTW the controversy about that garage never led to its removal unlike the office tower near Montgomery Field which had its top 2 stores lopped off when it was revealed a crooked San Diego Mayor allowed the developer to build taller than he should have been allowed.
Dear lord….you consider that one of your most challenging approaches?!?! And you were an airline pilot for a major? That’s horrifying.
@@ddhsd i remember that bloody office building being built - i told my dad that it looked awfully tall to be that close to the end of the runway. Then we both laughed when the top two floors were 'unbuilt' - what a waste of money!
@@altemp100 it's pretty scary when you're driving on the 5 past the end of 27 and the parking garage and can pretty much count the rivets on the underbelly of a big jet . . . and notice that the jet is *below* the level of the top floor of the garage as it passes by! [we were so PISSED when that garage went up!]
I grew up in Hong Kong and lived in one of those 4 story buildings less than 1/2 mile to Kai Tak Airport. Those 747 used to head directly west onto the mountain behind us, then made a 360 turn to east at the sight of the "checkerboard". Leveled from 45 degree tilt, then passed less than 40 feet over our roof. Then crabbing onto the runway. I had no idea what the glide slope looked like. They even did that in strong wind and rain. They took off the same way. Those were the best pilots in the world.
I loved to see 747 sitting on our roof, Years later, my dream came true, I became a Manufacturing Engineer working on the 747 line in Boeing Everett, WA. Then 777, 787.
Oh my gosh, I am 72 yrs of age and seeing this landing in San Diego is almost my dream come true……number one dream is to be sitting in the copilots seat. Thank you. Ken M. Loveland, CO.
@@kenmoersen128 Glad you liked it 🙏
@kenmoersen128 are you near fort-love airport? I've flown out of there a few times.
My parents lived in SD during the 90's. This was awesome to see.
I've flown into San Diego as a passenger many times, great to get the pilot's view for a change!
Much respect - I don't understand how these guys can understand each other when they're talking over each other pretty much non-stop. That stuff drives me nuts.
Because there isn't anything to figure out. They're just confirming already set protocol and expectations.
I didn't hear anybody talking over anyone, that was pretty relaxed for socal TBH.
@@Joe-bm4wx That might explain why I could never be a pilot, though the thought had crossed my mind at one time. I also have hearing loss, which might also explain things.
@@user-sz1dk4tw2oDefinitely agree. Our brains have to do so much more calculations when we miss a lot of the full spectrum of speech and sometimes it’s just too much. However, when it’s a situation repeated many times that’s much like the difference between learning a language and growing up with it, to me anyway.
We flew in to San Diego once. When walking to pick up our rental car it was a “holy 💩” moment. These pilots thread the needle to land.
@@annmariecummings2910 thread what needle? San Diego is one of the easiest airports to land at
Lived in Diego for years and never stop being amazed how beautiful it was landing in SD :) amazing 😻 city
Concerning that the PIC doesn't know what side of the lines he needs to be on...time for some additional training. No room for "close enough" on runway incursions.
THAT is taught from Day One. I was a bit shocked.
He also was told to hold short of B4 and taxis onto b4 holding short of 27....
Taking off from San Diego is another beautiful view. When planes heading East make the left turn a couple miles out over the ocean, you can see the entire coastline if you're sitting by the window on the right side, and the left you'll also see the coastline and Coronado Bridge. A few years back, I saw large pod whales from my window seat.
@@MichaelSmith-df5pz Yes, I agree with you about those left turns further out into the ocean and then the turning sequences begin. That is the same for taking from LAX. Departing Los Angeles I have always seen a couple of super tanker ships parked in the ocean. It is always interesting to me to that!! ☺
So cool to see the traffic from a pilot's point of view with an airport with just one runway.
Interesting captain, first the aspen vid now doesn't know when he's clear of the runway?? Good luck brother, you are a patient man
@@quackgarage9551 issn't that why there are 2 pilots flying?? so one always there to run checks and watnot ?? :) HEHEHe lets just hope it don't have to get all KLINGON BIRD OF PREY rules on the next vid/landing.... (and how about that go around they forced too, cuz their 130 slopoke incommin speed??? hehe and they still took ''long time'' to get over the ''out of the way'' line... (hold short line)
but we only there rideing seeing an edited video... soo eh... still... seems that there were ''glitches'' in proceedores.... or ''laxadaisychecking'' ??
It's a little scary when the captain doesn't know that he isn't clear of the runway until he is past the bars
He must have been a Steam Edition player.
My grandmother used to take me to Boom Trenchards, a restaurant just to the right of EOR. There were speakers at each table to listen to ATC. Somedays we would just park there and watch the planes land.
This was back in '75-'76 time frame.
Grandma passed last November.
Thank you for the video. Brings back alot of happy memories.
@@h.h.6171 My pleasure! thanks for watching
As kids in the mid-70s, we loved Booms. Our parents would take us there once a year as a treat. Their kaiser roll bun cheddar cheeseburgers were still the best I have ever had! (of course, it was ironic that a restaurant named after the Father of the Royal Air Force (Then the Royal Flying Corps) would feature a "kaiser" roll! It was fun to listen to the ATC chatter on the headsets.
@@RighteousReverendDynamite I loved Boom's as well - it started my lifelong interest in flight. And thank you for the kind comment about the food - my dad had oversight of that restaurant and others in the San Diego area in the 70s, and he created that burger. We tried out many test iterations at home and I still remember how good it was. 😊
I like eating dinner at Mr A's off to the right side of the aircraft on final approach. You see these flights coming in and you are about level with the aircraft from the restaurant.
Good for you for telling him to get off the runway. I noticed the same thing at that SNA video. Clearly this isn’t a one time thing, but a deficiency in his pilot training. I would have a serious but polite talk with him when not flying that if he does that again you’ll be talking with the chief pilot about it.
Yup, unacceptable
@@jacks3446 Totally
I’m a new pilot (110hrs) and that’s the first thing I thought. I was like dang I can fly that plane if someone said this guy can. Kind of eye opening TBH
Me be like: "GET OFF THE RUNWAY"..... I've flown into Ksan
Thanks for the video. Makes me homesick. Moved away from San Diego County in 1997. Miss it. Miss landing at Lindbergh
Glad you enjoyed it
That approach never gets old. Thanks for sharing.
I lived in San Diego for 35 years, right below the glide path intercept where you dropped the gear. I saw the school behind my house and the road I lived on.
@@scottstefanatz These are the kind of comments I love, thanks for sharing 🙏
If you are referring to the large church school on the flight path, it's called the "City Tree". It's a private school in downtown and I actually went to Elementrary school there :)
@@MCP2002 nope, I was referring to Rowan Elementary. Sitting in the triangle of i15 the 805 and 94
Former Boeing... Love the smart 'planners' who put a multistory parking garage smack dab in way just before runway... been in and out of SAN multiple times... both on 27 and 9... last time in was on 27 during high winds, driving rain, and wind shear... completely blind... didn't know if we were going to land in parking garage or on runway... very happy it was runway...
I live here in San diego and never understood why they built that parking garage there but it does make for an exciting landing for you pilots
@@betho8736 Thanks for Comment
It seems the parking garage was put there by the Mafia, it was not subject to any normal planning regulations...
@@betho8736 : Likewise. San Diegan born and raised, and for the life of me I also could never understand who signed away on that decision? Of all places, right?
What's the gear clearance over that structure? I don't live in SD, but have been in and out visiting family in Oceanside and have had the same "who put that there" thought.
Most citizens arent aware how challenging this approach is especially with weather or a low ceiling. The Alladin parking structure sits at 5 stories just west of I-5 and requires a steep sink rate prior to landing. It’s crazy in a heavy 777
they actually were approved for six levels, but they went with 5. According to the FAA six was within limits of clearence, but it wasn't by very much.
I flew this approach in FDX B727, MD10 and MD11 aircraft. It was a handful in the 11. San Diego Lindbergh Field is a classic example of retail and city leaders with no appreciation of flight operations.
9:06 this is why it’s important to brief your runway exit
Captian is an accident waiting to happen
like even when the fo had to point out that hes not off the runway cuz he didt pass the hold short line is such common stuff and crazy how you can forget that
@@AllAboutAuto31 yeah good job on the FO for being on top of everything, but its not safe that the FO has to tell the captain where to go and to clear the runway when there is traffic on final behind them. I'm very interested to know how that captain found himself in the left seat of a Challenger and who put him there.
Or just know basic runway/pavement markings and taxiway signage
And they missed a perfectly good high speed taxiway to exit and not cause further go-arounds.
Born and raised in San Diego and we lived near the flight path on Pt. Loma. Remember how we would could only talk on the phone between planes. 😂 There was a open air theater in Balboa Park called Starlight Bowl, and in the summer, there would be plays at night. All the actors would stop and wait till the planes went over head. Good times.😊 I really enjoyed seeing the approach from the cockpit perspective.
On my way to boot camp in 1966 on the day the new terminal opened we had a hard landing in a Boeing 707.
I arrived at MCRD 15 June '66. See my comment.
My home town! I landed at Lindbergh several times with my father. He taught many San Diegans to fly in the 60-80s. Good memories…
Done this approach a few times in various Delta airplanes. That parking garage on short final made me feel that I needed to pick my feet up. At 7:49.
Neat video. I can see my little community in the mountains on approach, and I'm working at the Terminal expansion project, so I can see home and work.
living in San Diego, I've landed here over a hundred times, but never seen it from that point of view! Always wondered about accessing the east side of the runway (cargo/private) too.
I've landed there as a passenger over 100 times over the last 30 years or so. A few times the pilot has landed long, once so long that the plane landed hard with passengers screaming or gasping at the landing and the breaking afterward. I know we landed long because we take the last exit off the runway. 747s generally don't land there, but back in the late 90s there was a British airline that was doing it pretty regularly.
Recall there was considerable controversy when that parking structure (Laurel Street) was put up, for exactly the reasons discussed in the comments. Always fun flying home to SD, always on the left side (window), great views of the harbor, carriers at North Island, etc. And sometimes on take-off, on the right side, you can see the boots doing obstacles and physical training next door at MCRD. And on the 4th hole of the Balboa 9-hole golf course, the approaching planes come right over you, and fairly low. So glad that 40 years of (mostly thumb-fiddling, wasted) effort failed to move the airport! It's a unique feature of an amazing city.
Awesome video. These type of videos really help me learn, I am a low time pilot, 145 hours. Please keep posting
check out ua-cam.com/video/KK5KTQGuXSQ/v-deo.html
I hear these planes all day and night, no rules here
I lived in San Diego for 47 years. I loved going in and out of San Diego, starting with PSA in the mid-60’s, better known to the military as Poor Sailors Airline. I was bummed when they sold out Southwest. The charm of the airline went away.
Nicest approach in the country!
My first time into SAN was 1974 while building time for my commercial. I was dual, max gross x-country from Tucson with two pax in a Mooney 201 (M20J). I was getting my 10 hours dual in the Mooney for the insurance and my instructor said. "Let's go to San Diego for lunch." I volunteered two friends to come along as baggage for the max gross component and off we went. This aircraft had manual gear and manual pump flaps. The weather was perfect until we got to the San Diego area. The fog was moving in, and it was Special VFR when we checked in with approach control. This was my first Special VFR arrival and, before I could request it, they sequenced us into the pattern. The little Mooney was FAST! They had me enter a Right Downwind on the North side of the airport about mid-field. There are no speed brakes on a Mooney! I could barely see the airport as I turned downwind and tried to slow down. When I got to maximum gear speed I dropped the gear, still trying to slow down. The tower called my base, and I was still fast and high as I pumped down the flaps while turning base. I had to slip to lose altitude as I turned final. I handled all of that and as I relaxed as we settled on the runway, tower said, "77U, expedite!" We were barely off the runway and I looked over my left shoulder and saw a PSA DC-9 had just landed. Leaving SAN was easy!
That was an awesome video coming into SAN!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Landed here 100 times from the cheap seats. Pretty sweet to see it from this angle.
It's absolutely gorgeous, which I'm sure you guys don't get to appreciate cause it looks like there a bit of a needle to thread 😅
Was based at the former Navy training center off Rosecrans St - on foggy days you could see the wingtip vortices of arriving jets, had a wicked sound to them like someone twirling a bullwhip very fast .
Fantastic views 🔥
The first time I was pic in a citation 2 into San, I asked the mentor pilot in the right seat”any secrets to this approach?” He said “Just don’t bounce off of the parking garage”
it's unbelievable they were allowed to build that parking garage there. It might take 50-100 years, but I bet some pilot is eventually going to hit it
I will never understand whose brilliant idea it was to build a parking garage at the front of that runway. Smh.
haha 👍
Love the garage in front of the runway. LOL
Thanks for taking me along for the ride.
As a resident in the 4th and Elm area, We can read the tire manufacturer's logo on the landing gear so every plane coming in gives me a slight "pucker response". I cant imagine a 1st time landing at Lindberg.
In 1969, I had a lady friend who house sat one of the old Victorian houses on the last ridge above the field and directly under the final approach path. It was a 4 floor wooden house, quite large. The jet traffic was so close overhead that you could see the rivets from the widow’s walk tower of the house. Wake turbulence from heavies would shake the house. The house was eventually moved in order to save it.
If you ever get a chance, watch Richard Gere in "Mr Jones" He plays a Bipolar piano player who tries to touch airplanes while standing on top of a roof of an old victorian home in Banker's Hill, San Diego
I’m reading this from an old Victorian house on golden hill right on the ridge.
That lake is Sweetwater Springs Reservoir, and I live very close to it. The San Diego Airport is one of the busiest single runway airports in the world.
I grew up in San Diego with a view of the airport. One 4th of July someone was on that parking structure in front of the runway lighting off sky rockets.
Fun! 😂
This approach from a passenger view, especially on the left, is stunning. I've heard pp joke one can see people hanging their laundry on apartment windows passing by. Also fun is always the takeoff from Santa Ana. As pilots cut their throttle for noise abatement and level off there is always a feeling of weightlessness. Also, the approaches to 28L/28R are impressive into SFO when pax only see water until the last few seconds until touchdown. I always preferred the left side as a pax, seeing San Mateo come into view and watching hwy 101 become larger and larger...
Awesome landing! That is such a cool approach to see the city to the south! Good video as always
Narrator: “He was not clear of the runway.”
finally an air traffic controller i understand...
Your job is so fun 🤩 just got my PPL hope to be your spot 1 day. Great video !
MCRD just off the right side of the airport. Going through boot camp in 1969 the noise of the jets overhead would drown out the marching commands of the Drill Instructors and make us miss a command. The DI's campaign hat would fly out in front of the platoon like a frisbee. We knew it would be squat trusts forever or some push-ups on knuckles and toes on the asphalt. Ah, good times. 😂
Great view of Mt. San Miguel, enjoyed that.
back in the late 90's my friend lives near by in some apartments budling we would go to the roof top and planes would by over so close ti was awesome
"We are clear of the runway" 😂 Were clearly not
How does a challenger pilot not know to taxi beyond the hold short bars before clear🙇🏻♂️ If he called clear and ATC sequenced another takeoff, it would be a runway incursions….good on the co-pilot 😳
Yeah that was embarrassing...
I’ve flown with 25000 hour airline guys who stop at the wrong side of the hold short line. It’s flabbergasting.
Not true. As long as the Local Controller has not issued a restriction to an exiting aircraft entering an adjacent taxiway while said aircraft is continuing forward movement off the runway, ATC is authorized to utilize anticipated separation in conducting successive operations behind the exiting aircraft (meaning landing OR departing aircraft).
@@GooglePlusPages bro you have to be clear of the runway
The new terminal 1 replaces the outdated one. Professional pilots, I just like to be a passenger.
San Diego has some massive size reservoirs you can see just before the approach.
There's a lot of great fishing at the reservoirs as well.
I am a Bass Guide here in San Diego, and can tell you we have some amazing Bass fishing opportunities at all times of the year!! No Quarter Bass Guide, if anyone is interested!
@@craigtaylorfishing Lake Wholford and Henshaw were my favorite lakes to fish when I lived in San Diego.
I flew into KSAN many times several years ago as a captain on a Boeing 737, mostly the -300 which had analog displays with no moving map or GPS. All they had then was a localizer approach. There were no GPS approaches that we could use. If you had to shoot that approach to minimums it sometimes resulted in a long landing since the MDA was kind of high. I remember thinking about how close to the landing gear seemed to be to the parking garage that you fly over on short final to RWY 27. Nice video.
@@whtfsh765 Thanks for sharing, glad you enjoyed the video
I live under this final approach in Bankers Hill. This was cool to see, it really is as crazy as it looks.
Thanks!
Well done! Your videos bring back many nerve wracking landings at SAN.
What was that controller talking about in the begging about not talking about something important lol. and the swerving all over the place on localizer call. LMAO
i rode the san diego drop once. the take off is also amazing.
I recently got to fly the CL35 at the flightsafety at KCMH and I did this approach! So awesome to see this so shortly after
I use to have a home right outside of Gaslamp and would fly into San Diego all the time. Crazy airport location. If you are in a certain part of Little Italy the planes will go right over your head.
Thank you for sharing your flight a landing in San Diego International Airport. Really nice and smooth. I use to come in with my former airline on their Airbus 320s and a couple of 757s.😊 San Diego is a beautiful city to fly by closely.
Glad you enjoyed it!
@@TheChallengerPilot You are welcome. Fly safely. ☺
Thanks for the ride, gentlemen.
Our pleasure!
flew as a passenger into San Diego a few years ago, then just a few days ago flew this approach in a 737 sim. wound up having to go around as i was too high rip. still can't get over having to stomp on the brakes with the runway there, such a very foreign feeling.
I used to love flying back to SD for Christmas breaks from school, and especially when the landings were after sunset. The downtown buildings all lit up, and it seemed like we were flying right through them.
So cool! My house is pretty much under the flight path to KSAN and at 2:35 in the video, I can see my neighborhood. You're coming up on Mt. San Miguel (with the antennas on it on your right) and the Sweetwater Reservoir where the helicopter was taking on water, and to the left you see a collection of commercial buildings. The commercial building closest to you is in a chevron shape with a white roof and I'm within walking distance of that building.
Regarding the new construction, SAN is building a brand new Terminal 1 (used mostly by Southwest) to replace the small, dated existing Terminal 1. I believe that once the new terminal is open, they'll demolish the old one and then expand the new Terminal 1 even further.
Thanks! cool good to know 🤙
First job after flight instructor, I flew a Piper Cherokee Six, then a Navajo Chieftan LAX to SAN Lindburgh five days a week for about 3 years. I didn't see it on this video but I remember the VASI lights would pulsate on and off. I asked why (finally) and was told it indicated a non-standard glide slope. Yep, it was a little steeper than normal. LOL
Awesome. You pilots are amazing. Love SD
Thanks a lot!
Looks like they use Map Quest. Hats off to pilots, talk about multi tasking.
For years they talked about trying to move the airport north to where MCAS Miramar is for safety reasons, but then suddenly that talk ended and they started doing major construction on the existing airport property.
yes! the new building is an expansion of terminal one
i got my student licence through a high school program (this approach flies right over my high school!) and we flew out of Gillespie. The landscape had so many memories . . . i was so nervous that one of my solos was going to be at KSAN; no, it was at Ramona, and some circuits of Brown and Gillespie. But we did overfly KSAN once - whooooo!
i got that student licence just before graduating, then discovered just how expensive it was. i wasn't able to continue after that, and i suspect i'd have to start all over now. A few years ago i did finally get to go up in a sailplane - OMG that was marvellous. (Stalls were some of my favourite practise - cut the engine and just let it float . . . i did give the instructor heart failure once when i was too blissed out on the sensation to realise just how close we were getting to Mt Miguel, but he just cleared his throat and i throttled back up. Getting a C172 to stall by myself was hard.) i did love it whilst i was doing it!
Lol, "KSAN"! I guess vet pilots can relive their 'Nam days coming into there! 😉😄
@@kc5402 took me a bit to get it . . . 8D
Interesting video with all the firefighting going on 🚒
Crazy how it doesn’t look that close to the buildings from the plane but on the ground it looks like the plane is scraping the roofs.
I remember eating at Mr. A's restaurant which was above the glide path of the approach to SAN.
Hugh Downs did a special story on the perils of the Final approach
Landing in San Diego when it’s super foggy is so nerve racking 😅
Landing at Limburger Field, aim for Pacific Highway and Laurel Street and slide right on in.
Oh. By the way, don't let student pilots wear blinders when anywhere near SAN. We don't need any more 727s landing at Nile and Dwight.
RIP PSA. Saddest day in San Diego.
United 2683 didn't seem too happy about that go around lol
@@MuchGrooove sure didnt sound happy 😅
One of my favorite airports to play at in Flight Sim. That was one steep glide slope.
It’s a visual approach there is no GS
@@matthewrammig To be specific, he was cleared for the visual from what was probably the RNAV to 27. I used to fly into SAN a lot in my 26 pilot years and it was always using the VOR/DME backcourse to 27. The two are virtually identical. So, you're absolutely correct: there is no glideslope; however, there is a set of systematic step-downs all the way to REEBO (1800') using either DME equipment or the GPS readouts.
Digging a little further, the descent angle from REEBO to SAN is 3.18 degrees, which is, in fact, a steeper descent angle (not correct to call it a glide slope since it is not attached to an ILS) than the standard ILS descent angle of 3 degrees.
Boy, do I miss flying.
@@davidmalone9022 yeah, what I think what he meant was “glide path”. Anyway, it’s 3.5° now, and at or above 2000’ at REEBO on the RNAV for 27. So definitely steeper than standard. As you and I know, these step down altitudes are made to keep you alive. I doubt if a flight simulator pilot adheres to/cares about them. lol
@@davidmalone9022 oh, by the way, I hope you get to keep flying something!
Yap, that tall parking garage before the run way was a challenge, especially at night
Well done Gentlemen. Flew right over my house. "Just not sayin' where lol" Great vid.
BEAUTIFUL.
Welcome to MY CITY!! SUNNY DIEGO!!!😎😎
Arizona to touchdown at SAN: 50 minutes.
Runway to terminal: 50 minutes.
Good thing I wasn't"t in that cockpit. This guy needs to find another line of work. You could tell United was pissed and I don't blame them.
If you are referring that we are to blame to for the United go around, thats the tower/approach controller responsibility to create sufficient spacing. If he had any concern he should have instructed us to keep our speed up until a certain part of the final, the same way NY controllers do all the time.
@@TheChallengerPilot Exactly!!!
Whew nice but scary he said he’s clear of runway when clearly not past hold lines.
When you're near the airport, on the ground in SD, it's always attention grabbing, to see how the planes drop in suddenly over the hill, and not that high above the rooftops!
Boy that marine layer is coming in. Years ago I was shuttling pilots back and forth to NAS North Island. We were picking up planes used in the Pearl Harbor movie. The last flight of the day had me going directly over SAN both inbound and on departure due to the marine layer completely obscuring the coast. After departure I got on top and headed home to Long Beach.
Thanks for the reply. Like your name of “fort-love” airport. I could only afford to get my private pilot license, but I do remember my ground school instructor who flew for a private corporation saying that flying can sometimes be hours of boredom followed by moments of shear terror. Stay safe.
This airport & planes so much simpler back in the 70’s
Not too sure about PF letting go of the yoke immediately after touchdown there and going to the tiller... There's steering on the pedals and the airplane is still flying at that point. Transition needs to be made but IMO that was WAY too early... If I NEED to go to tiller early, I always transfer the yoke to the PNF before I do it... Not just let it go...
I had a similar thought.
Me too and I’ve never flown
San Diego desperately needs a second runway. If the Marine Corps would give just a little of their MCRD to the airport, they would lose a couple of sports fields and some parking spaces.
Amazing
Feels like you guys aren't quite on the same page. The energy seems off in several videos 😬 kind of hard to watch, but I do love the quality of your videos. Hope you'll be able to find a better partner in due time (if you think it's necessary) 🙏🏿
That co-pilot''s left hand dexterity and accuracy on the control keys is rivaled only by Liberace.
Aside from the fact that he didn’t just clear the runway somehow and let ground figure things out from there, this CA was very quick to let go of the yoke and get on the tiller. Did not transfer “tops” to the FO and the FO also didn’t take them. Had a gust picked up across the runway when they were still on the high speed portion of the rollout that could’ve been interesting.