Runway 9 is used during Santa Ana winds or low visibility. There is no ILS for 27 because of the high rise buildings. Runway 9 has ILS coming from the west
Born and raised in SD. In the early 70’s, went to SDHS in Balboa Park where depending on the wind direction that day, the teacher would have to stop talking as the aircraft would fly over us occasionally. If you were in the park, many times you could see the passengers by the windows. I do miss San Diego sometimes.
Multiple things I want to clear up/ mention: San Diego can't expand due to housing and a marine recruitment center to its north and a massive (and highly used by military, cargo, cruise, and smaller private ships) bay. It can function at such high efficiency part to luck part to a good design. The runway direction rarely has to change because the wind stays the same for the most part, although the direction can change in dense fog as only runway 9 has ILS (buildings and land block runway 27 from having it), so it's not entirely uncommon for morning flights to fly out of runway 9. Most planes (aside for Alaskas (what feels like) thousands of e170s-e195s that fly out of there) taxi off at or past Terminal 1, way past where the departures queue up. Also, in the (what feels like) 50 times I have flown in and out of KSAN, I have arrived into runway 9 ONCE, and that time being the most recent time I flew into KSAN. Having only one runway and one parallel taxiway (for most of the time) can cause issues tho. When the runway used changes due to fog lifting/ coming in, departures just cut, and in some cases can even cause the runway to be unusable due to a plane having to be on it for a minute (I've seen this happen). In the case it switches from runway 9 to 27, landing planes can get blocked from exiting the runway because planes are blocking their path, although at a certain point they (the departing planes) can cross the runway and use another taxiway. I live in San Diego and have done so my whole life, so that's how I know all this. Thanks for listening to my TedTalk and tell me if there's anything I missed Edit: you got really lucky to see that BA a350. Aside for the JAL 787 that flies out of SAN, it's the only daily flight that comes from out of the continent (aside for some flights from the northern parts of South America, although those are on 737s for the most part and are can't be told apart from domestic flights). I myself have seen it moving once.
@@bluesky4385 I got a picture of the Lufthansa a350 SAN to Munich at the gate and take off from T2, it was beautiful seeing that because the runway seems so short for it
Coronado and SAN airport should swap places. If the old buildings were demolished, Coronado has the land for two independently operated parallel runways and a 3rd crosswind runway, which would bring capacity up to 60M passengers/year. It also wouldn't be much further from downtown than the current site.
I was staying in Ocean Beach last week and got to see (and hear) every departure as they take off to the west right over that area. Depending on their destination they would turn to the left or right. It was a relief when the departure curfew kicked in at 11 pm. And when the curfew ends at 6:30 am, it's just one departure after another for the first hour or so. I think I read there are only six airports with departure curfews. A local tv station did a story earlier this year on how few flights are fined for breaking the curfew. One reason is they don't want pilots to feel pressured to takeoff to avoid a fine instead of delaying a flight if necessary to double check or make a repair if that's what the crew thinks they need to do. All involved in that airport operation has to know what they are doing and be ready to handle the unexpected, like a missed approach etc. Good job everyone.
I used to live in San Diego. Once, when heading into the city for training I saw a Delta L1011 take off in the opposite direction. This was back in 1994.
@@PeterMasella why they hell are you still wearing a mask 😷 it doesn’t do anything for you. It’s been proven that virus 🦠 is smaller then the little holes the mask has.
I always fly out of San Diego because that’s my home airport. I’ve used runway 9 for takeoff a lot. They use runway 9 for takeoff and landing because of the weather. If it’s like heavy raining they use runway 9.
Landed on runway 9 one time a year or so ago when it was very foggy (morning flight). I didn't know where we were until we almost landed, and realized it was runway 9. Kind of interesting! I LOVE the approach on runway 27, and always get a window seat to see downtown, the Coronado bridge, cruise ships, and downtown buildings.
I did land on runway 9 one time. The ceiling was too low to come over the hills to the east so instead took the ILS for runway 9. We broke out of the clouds just above minimums to land.
The most interesting part of this which is already remarkable, is that there are quite a number of large, highly congested airports around the world that have only two runways, often parallel and they kind of do this same pattern of landings and departures, only times two.
You had a really nice evening departure from San Diego. Beautiful views of the well-light coastal suburbs with the evening twilight as the backdrop. Also, you captured L.A. showing off it's geographical size through it's lights.
I have landed and departed at SAN using the opposite direction on the runway. The departure felt fairly steep to get up quickly over Balboa Park. I prefer the west departure since the aircraft is quickly over the ocean and beach.
I have both landed and taken off in the opposite direction several times. You land over the ocean and take off over the city -which can make you catch your breath. It is close to the buildings and looks much closer than the normal landing.
I have both landed and departed from west to east a number of times. Happens during strong Santa Ana winds (winds that blow from east to west) , and have also experienced it upon arrival because of fog in the area. When they switch landing & departing direction, it causes delays of about 30-45 minutes.
Thank you for sharing your trip. Yes, San Diego International Airport is cute with having one runway. Yes, it is nice seeing the ocean after taking off..
When there is a storm and ILS is needed go to Liberty Station in front of runway 9. With a nice wind you can get some nice crabbing on approach. Beautiful park area to watch from and some good eats nearby.
BA used to fly a 747 into SAN from LHR every day around 4 p.m. I would see it approach as i left my job at Naval Medical Center San Diego in Balboa Park. It was awesome.
Yes, I can see BA coming in even from the Uptown area. It's a 787 (?) I believe now, and it's huge. I've been in Balboa Park and have seen it come over -- this large bird just descends at you and over you, a monster of a plane. I've been fortunate to have flown on both the BA 747s (and the newer 777/787 more recently) in and out of San Diego. (I think I have those models right.) Recently I filmed my friend taking off to London from San Diego on BA, and then was able to screencapture the landing hours later via livestream at Heathrow. A red letter day for us BA fans!
Rwy 9 is used when the wind is blowing from the east or if the weather is bad. Rwy 9 has special equipment that allows airplanes to land in bad weather.
Quick point, tower doesn’t tell us to clear the runway, we do it automatically on our own. And yes, if the weather is low we land on runway 9 because it has lower landing minimums.
Having lived in San Diego for over 52 years, yes, I have twice experienced landing and taking off in the "opposite" direction approaching over the ocean. Once due to high winds blowing in from the desert and mountains, and also because of foggy conditions inland and downtown. I had a hard grip on the armrest each time.
I work with the Arrive Joint Venture building the new Terminal 1, Parking Plaza, and new elevated roadway. I get to explain the coordination everyday as I conduct orientation and I get to witness it daily.
Great video. In December I was leaving San Diego airport for Boston and there was a strong east wind. So we had to take off the opposite direction. Because of the hill and buildings on the east side of the runway, the plane only filled up a small amount of fuel to limit takeoff weight so it could climb quickly. We had a layover in Pheonix to fill up fuel and then made it to Boston with about a 2-hour delay.
Seeing that big 350 I just returned to SAN from Heathrow on a 777. I didn't realize it when I booked the flight but it was the first time returning from Europe on that big of a plane. It has always been a transfer on the East coast or a mid-continent city.
I have landed one time from the west--during rainy weather. Kind of exciting when you know you will pop out of the clouds very close to the airport, but I wonder just how exciting it is for the people living under the flight path on Point Loma.
I also have landed once from the west, in the rain. It's Pt. Loma then runway, very quick. Decades back, as a small child, I lived right under the flight path, and at the time there were quite a few smaller planes that would also use the airport. To this day, the sound of small aircraft is somehow soothing to me. Much later, I worked for an aerospace company on the west side of the runway, and the plane noise became background -- we didn't notice it. But we did have to wear earplugs when outside at work.
@@celticsanster i worked for a bit at Teledyne Ryan, on the west of the airport. Would go out at lunch and watch the pattern in the middle of the night. The noise in Pt Loma/OB is a lot quieter now than i remember as a kid, but we don't notice - and we don't realise that we automatically pause when the noise gets too loud, then continue the conversation when the jet recedes. We usually don't realise WHY we did it until someone else asks. 8D
Hundreds of flights in and out of San Diego. Twice in the very rare occurrence of a storm have I landed west to east. Well TWICE at KSAN and once on one of my handful of flights in and out of Tijuana to the south. It is so rare to have reverse operations at San Diego. I know LAX flips in the middle of the night but KSAN has a curfew anyway, a takeoff curfew at least as some of the Fed Ex and UPS planes will land after midnight. It's small for what it does resulting in almost every seat full in and out of the airport so forget that empty middle, but I can only imagine what business people think because out of the 100+ airports I've flown into around the world not one can lay claim to be any closer to downtown than KSAN. And the approach from the east, when sitting on the left side and landing lower than all the buildings you think you can touch is one of the best approaches in the world! I highly recommend a seat on the left side for your first time flying into San Diego. Then once you've seen it a few times you can switch and take a look at Balboa Park and such
San Diego California will be one Area in the USA To Visit not only that One Runaway can work will for me since I'm From The Caribbean Island of Barbados we also have one Runaway at Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados an extended Runaway that is Lol Awesome Video!!!!
When I was in pilot training, SAN had an interecting runway, Niner. Approaches were over all the sailboats in the harbor and sometimes those masts looked way too close! The opposite direction was never used due to terrain and developments theron.
Great job explaining how San Diego works with one runway! Now I want to go back--maybe this fall! Luv the BA A350! I saw one at Sea-Tac recently, only it was a Singapore Airlines.... When I was at SAN last December, I think the largest plane I saw was a Delta Boeing 767. You really had a quick trip! When I was there, I stayed one night in a hotel near the airport, and it was fun to go for a walk and watch jets climbing after take off!
The a350 is the biggest plane here regularly (followed by the JAL 787, which I've seen plenty of times) and I've seen it at the gate a few times. I want to say that BA operated the 747 here a few times pre-covid
Resident here. Numerous landings at SAN on 9 and 27. They use 9 for landing due to weather and winds sometimes. Just happened to me June 7 actually a bit before this. Certain times of the year there is very low ceiling and overcast (May Grey/June Gloom).
I flew out two days after you, actually. Sadly because of some delays the fog was gone before we left our gate so I had to takeoff on 27. Ended up landing on 9 on my return flight tho🙃
This summer I traveled Mexico to visit my extended family. Then I went to Tijuana to stay at a hotel for a couple of days, then went through customs to go to San Diego, where I slept at a hotel close to the airport for the night before my flight home. In San Diego, I sat on the left side of the plane, making me see the terminal. Then I landed in Houston then went to Boston (home).
The airport is considered one of the busiest single runway airport in the world and has since outgrown it's self,but they are doing a 3.5 billion dollar expansion and renovation that's sorely needed.
I'm a San Diego native who rarely travels maybe 1 flight per year (hoping to increase that) and I've been lucky enough to experience 2 takeoffs and 1 landing in the reverse direction. Pretty crazy since I believe over 95% of flights operate via 27. I believe it is more likely to happen in the morning due to fog (since 27 does not have any ILS instrumentation), however since the airport noise abatement procedure only allows for takeoffs after 0630, the window of time where this can occur is pretty small. When taking off on runway 09 the climb rate is pretty intense and you feel the G forces pretty heavily.
As far as I know, London Gatwick operates as a single-runway airport although it has two runways. The northern runway is used only when the main runway is out of use for any reason. The northern runway is used for taxiing when the main runway is used. Otherwise, the runways are too close together to be used for simultaneous operation - there are some considerations as to how both could be used, but I dont recollect reading any decision has been made. Since the pandemic, I dont know if it is recognised as the world's busiest..
We landed on ILS 9, in last summer on a Alaska B39M. It was my second time landing that direction. This time we arrived midafternoon, when the overcast set in.
I come and go from San Diego a lot. Runway 9 is relatively rare but I've done it probably a half dozen times. I've been on the tarmac a few times when they've had to switch directions. That's a whole ordeal and unless you're one of the first few planes to take off at the time, expect to wait 30-45 minutes as after the first few takeoffs all the planes in the air come down for a solid 20 minutes or more before those in the queue can start going. Timing changes a bit based on circumstance, but usually I can time out the intervals and guess when we'll finally get to go. From my house I can also see the 27 approach path, I can also see when it's not in effect and it's definitely unusual.
I’ve flown on one of these older winglet-less Alaska 737-900 non-ER aircraft. Is it just me, or are they noisier and vibrate more than the newer ones? A ceiling panel came loose from the center on takeoff, and was hanging by the luggage bin: a flight attendant had to snap it back in place.
A few years ago, coming from Mexico City, we were late in the final approach, I asked myself, why? Since I fly to San Diego a lot and it had never happened before, the cloud ceiling was low and could not be seen. My surprise is to see the sea before touching land, in San Diego? no way, but yes. Upon landing, I asked the Captain and he told me that he did not have instrumentation on the MD82 and with that poor visibility it took a long time for the tower to clear the traffic to give us the opportunity to land in the opposite direction, because it was less risky. That was my experience. Greetings.
As a San Diego native, I have flown from a to this airport many times. Never have we landed or departed runway 9. Although I have watched aircraft arriving and departing using it. BA use to fly Boeing 747-400 from London to San Diego, I flew on BA from Gatwick to San Diego via LAX, the equipment on that flight was a DC-10. I was on a bus near the airport and I've seen Air Force One 747 taxi for departure.
Also have seen Air Force One 747 come into and depart from North Island NAS. At the time, I worked on the Point and so had a completely unobstructed view to the east. I've not forgotten how big AFOne was and how we were able to see it when it was miles out to the east, over the mountains. With its paint job, it has the uncanny effect of seeming to appear ghost-like out of the sky, almost an apparition. I wonder if the Kennedy (?) design was intentionally aiming for that effect. In any case, even the ex-Navy guys around me were geeking out over AFOne!
This is incorrect. SNA had 2 parallel runways 20L and 20R. Although you're right in that the operating reality is similar to SAN because 20L is very short
Peter, what would have been cool is to depart from a city with one runway with your destination another city with one runway... Oakland right up the street... I have flown out of Oakland many times, and back in the 80s I actually got to see the Concorde land there. I have also seen the Antonov AN-225 take off and land several times on Oakland's single runway.
@@PeterMasella Actually Oakland has only 1 commercial runway for airliners. Oakland is actually 2 airports in 1. OAK is a primary commercial service airport with four runways: one primary air carrier runway at South Field (Runway 11-29) and three runways at North Field (Runway 9R-27L, Runway 9L-27R, and Runway 15-33). The Airport is served by several passenger and cargo airlines. Runway 29 is the normal landing runway, but, during inclement weather Runway 11 is used. I haven't been to the airport itself in a while, but I do sometimes go to Harbor Bay Drive and spot planes on initial climbout, or to the San Leandro Marina to catch the planes on final to Runway 29.
When 9 is in use, those of us who live under the path know that the weather has changed. i've seen the pattern switch several times in a day when a front is moving through. But yes, our prevailing wind is a strong westerly.
seem like I took off toward the city on old frontier airlines and over the hill on a hot day and a full flight in August 1980. flown into and out San many times and never took off again or landed on runway 9 again.
British Airways will also operate a 747 and Lufthansa had a non stop A340 to Berlin. Terminal #1 remodel will increase the number of gates by 50% or more
Lufthansa currently operates an A350-900 to Munich, British Airways only operated the 747 before the pandemic. Terminal-1 is being demolished to make way for the new, much bigger Terminal-1.
I've see cargo planes land in the opposite direction late at night (past curfew) in clear weather. My guess is it's to keep the noise to a minimum by not flying over as many residential buildings.
Now that the construction at La Guardia Airport is complete have there been fewer delays with flights there? Because I saw a video about a year ago on Coby Explanes and he said that even though more space has been created around the tarmac for planes to move around and there are more taxiways now Coby said that all of those improvements don't do much to reduce delays because of the 2 intersecting runways. Have you seen a reduction in delays there?
Hi Peter, just stumbled upon this video as I was looking for updates on the new T1 at SAN. Great video! I was wondering, do you listen to the air traffic control chat live or do you download the audio after the flights during video editing. Either way, where do you get the recordings from because that’s pretty cool! A few months ago on a landing in SAN, we had a go around kinda last minute which spooked everyone on the plane followed by a few circles in the sky. Would’ve been cool to hear what was going on as the pilot didn’t give us any updates. You’ve got my subscription!
That's what those things are called? Oh, gosh, I'm so embarrassed. I worked in aerospace for some years but never caught on to what those cute little things on the ends of wings were called. At least I didn't call them "Cute" out loud to the engineers! At least, I have learned something new.
I took a flight that went in the "wrong" direction and it was during choppy conditions. You just have to trust that the pilots have the experience to know that it's still safe to take off.
Hi, thanks for the video .. do you know what is the separation minima on the final approach in this airport ? My guess is 5nm since the second landing traffic was 5nm when the ATC instructed your pilot to line up and wait 😅
Hi Peter I love your videos - excellent work and detail throughout each of them! Thank you for all the insight. As a novice, one thing I'm curious about is how you can tap into the in-flight radio communications between the control towers and the flight crew?
I’m really surprised that a large city like San Diego only has a single runway at its airport, is there a reason why they can’t expand to add another runway?
Absolutely CHAOTIC and RIDICULOUS! What were the planners even thinking? What happens in bad weather? In Chicago at ORD, we have 3 sets of parallel runways plus 2 diagonal crosswind runways ! A total of 8 runways.
The airport was built 100 years ago well before jets and passenger air travel. There is no other place to move it since San Diego is all hills and completely developed.
You got a lot of things wrong, socal departure is not the same thing and does not cover lax, instead it is split into three+ section, one covers San Diego, one cover LAX, and etc. along center controllers are called enroute controllers, also when there are five mile finals it is common at any airport, if the sequencing would be closer they would say “runway 27 no delay cleared for takeoff” other than that great vid.
I live in San Diego and my last flight home from a trip back east we landed from the west over the ocean instead if the normal path over the city. It felt really weird coming in from the opposite direction!
While SAN is the busiest single runway airport in the US, it is definitely not the busiest in the world. I believe that London Standstead holds that distinction. (And London Luton is up there also.)
The three-million-plus population figure for the "metro area" is somewhat misleading, as that encompasses all of San Diego County, an area as large as the state of Connecticut. And while it's true that another city the size of San Diego lies just across the border, Tijuana has its own airport with multiple runways. Many passengers heading for Mexican destinations use that facility instead.
@@PeterMasellaThere's a special processing terminal (called the CrossBorder Xpress) on the US side of the border that is connected by sky-bridge to Tijuana airport. You literally walk up and over the border wall and ride an escalator down into TIJ airport. It's pretty cool! Try it sometime, it'll make a good video.
Seeing British Airways land is nothing compared to when they used to land in the 1980s flying the 747. If you think that’s exhilarating, watch British Airways on short final have to make a go around turn out to the right and come back to 27 on the localizer and try it again. Before Montgomery Field had an ILS in the 70s pilots would have to make the ILS to runway nine Lindberg field and then break off and stay VFR till you got to MYF.
Runway 9 is used during Santa Ana winds or low visibility. There is no ILS for 27 because of the high rise buildings. Runway 9 has ILS coming from the west
Born and raised in SD. In the early 70’s, went to SDHS in Balboa Park where depending on the wind direction that day, the teacher would have to stop talking as the aircraft would fly over us occasionally. If you were in the park, many times you could see the passengers by the windows. I do miss San Diego sometimes.
Cool. I’m from New York City and the teacher did the exact same thing when planes took off from LaGuardia airport!
Multiple things I want to clear up/ mention:
San Diego can't expand due to housing and a marine recruitment center to its north and a massive (and highly used by military, cargo, cruise, and smaller private ships) bay.
It can function at such high efficiency part to luck part to a good design. The runway direction rarely has to change because the wind stays the same for the most part, although the direction can change in dense fog as only runway 9 has ILS (buildings and land block runway 27 from having it), so it's not entirely uncommon for morning flights to fly out of runway 9. Most planes (aside for Alaskas (what feels like) thousands of e170s-e195s that fly out of there) taxi off at or past Terminal 1, way past where the departures queue up.
Also, in the (what feels like) 50 times I have flown in and out of KSAN, I have arrived into runway 9 ONCE, and that time being the most recent time I flew into KSAN.
Having only one runway and one parallel taxiway (for most of the time) can cause issues tho. When the runway used changes due to fog lifting/ coming in, departures just cut, and in some cases can even cause the runway to be unusable due to a plane having to be on it for a minute (I've seen this happen). In the case it switches from runway 9 to 27, landing planes can get blocked from exiting the runway because planes are blocking their path, although at a certain point they (the departing planes) can cross the runway and use another taxiway.
I live in San Diego and have done so my whole life, so that's how I know all this.
Thanks for listening to my TedTalk and tell me if there's anything I missed
Edit: you got really lucky to see that BA a350. Aside for the JAL 787 that flies out of SAN, it's the only daily flight that comes from out of the continent (aside for some flights from the northern parts of South America, although those are on 737s for the most part and are can't be told apart from domestic flights). I myself have seen it moving once.
I think Lufthansa is flying a Munich San Diego flight now.
@@bluesky4385 I got a picture of the Lufthansa a350 SAN to Munich at the gate and take off from T2, it was beautiful seeing that because the runway seems so short for it
I also really like the 777-200 that United has been flying to DC. I’ve seen the a350 during a couple visits but more recently saw the BA 777 😍
Coronado and SAN airport should swap places. If the old buildings were demolished, Coronado has the land for two independently operated parallel runways and a 3rd crosswind runway, which would bring capacity up to 60M passengers/year. It also wouldn't be much further from downtown than the current site.
@@farmingpotato3372 Even tho the bay is next to it, could they potential build another runway on the water like Osaka?
I was staying in Ocean Beach last week and got to see (and hear) every departure as they take off to the west right over that area. Depending on their destination they would turn to the left or right. It was a relief when the departure curfew kicked in at 11 pm. And when the curfew ends at 6:30 am, it's just one departure after another for the first hour or so. I think I read there are only six airports with departure curfews. A local tv station did a story earlier this year on how few flights are fined for breaking the curfew. One reason is they don't want pilots to feel pressured to takeoff to avoid a fine instead of delaying a flight if necessary to double check or make a repair if that's what the crew thinks they need to do. All involved in that airport operation has to know what they are doing and be ready to handle the unexpected, like a missed approach etc. Good job everyone.
I used to live in San Diego. Once, when heading into the city for training I saw a Delta L1011 take off in the opposite direction. This was back in 1994.
Cool!
@@PeterMasella why they hell are you still wearing a mask 😷 it doesn’t do anything for you. It’s been proven that virus 🦠 is smaller then the little holes the mask has.
Planes take off to the east all of the time at Lindbergh, fog, wind, rain all effect the direction
Rwy 09 is a nightmare
I always fly out of San Diego because that’s my home airport. I’ve used runway 9 for takeoff a lot. They use runway 9 for takeoff and landing because of the weather. If it’s like heavy raining they use runway 9.
Interesting!
Landed on runway 9 one time a year or so ago when it was very foggy (morning flight). I didn't know where we were until we almost landed, and realized it was runway 9. Kind of interesting! I LOVE the approach on runway 27, and always get a window seat to see downtown, the Coronado bridge, cruise ships, and downtown buildings.
It wasn’t expected!
Lived in SD for 30 years and only landed runway 9 a couple times. It's mainly used when the low ceiling prevents the usual traffic flow
Cool!
I did land on runway 9 one time. The ceiling was too low to come over the hills to the east so instead took the ILS for runway 9. We broke out of the clouds just above minimums to land.
The most interesting part of this which is already remarkable, is that there are quite a number of large, highly congested airports around the world that have only two runways, often parallel and they kind of do this same pattern of landings and departures, only times two.
Like Heathrow!
You had a really nice evening departure from San Diego. Beautiful views of the well-light coastal suburbs with the evening twilight as the backdrop.
Also, you captured L.A. showing off it's geographical size through it's lights.
Thanks!
I have landed and departed at SAN using the opposite direction on the runway. The departure felt fairly steep to get up quickly over Balboa Park. I prefer the west departure since the aircraft is quickly over the ocean and beach.
cool!
I have both landed and taken off in the opposite direction several times. You land over the ocean and take off over the city -which can make you catch your breath. It is close to the buildings and looks much closer than the normal landing.
Cool!
I have both landed and departed from west to east a number of times. Happens during strong Santa Ana winds (winds that blow from east to west) , and have also experienced it upon arrival because of fog in the area. When they switch landing & departing direction, it causes delays of about 30-45 minutes.
I have never experienced it! Some day!
I’m a KORD/KMDW Chicago based AVGeek And stuff like this is the why I subscribe to your channel !!! Your content has become better and better.
I appreciate that! Thanks for watching!
Thank you for sharing your trip. Yes, San Diego International Airport is cute with having one runway. Yes, it is nice seeing the ocean after taking off..
Thanks for watching!
@@PeterMasella I have flown to San Diego many times from my former airline career and it is a beautiful city.
When there is a storm and ILS is needed go to Liberty Station in front of runway 9. With a nice wind you can get some nice crabbing on approach. Beautiful park area to watch from and some good eats nearby.
Cool!
I went through MCRD San Diego back in 1994. Watching the planes take off all night long was a special kind of torture.
😯
BA used to fly a 747 into SAN from LHR every day around 4 p.m. I would see it approach as i left my job at Naval Medical Center San Diego in Balboa Park. It was awesome.
That sure would have been amazing to see!
Yes, I can see BA coming in even from the Uptown area. It's a 787 (?) I believe now, and it's huge. I've been in Balboa Park and have seen it come over -- this large bird just descends at you and over you, a monster of a plane. I've been fortunate to have flown on both the BA 747s (and the newer 777/787 more recently) in and out of San Diego. (I think I have those models right.) Recently I filmed my friend taking off to London from San Diego on BA, and then was able to screencapture the landing hours later via livestream at Heathrow. A red letter day for us BA fans!
wonderful and detailed video Peter.Great work.
Thanks Yannis!
Rwy 9 is used when the wind is blowing from the east or if the weather is bad. Rwy 9 has special equipment that allows airplanes to land in bad weather.
Your videos are top notch! Love it!
Thanks so much!
San Diego looks like a beautiful area. Thank you for another great video. My brother was stationed in Coronado for a few years.
Thanks for watching as always Lori!
It is a beautiful place. Not surprised your brother was stationed here, there's a plethora of military bases, both marine and navy.
Quick point, tower doesn’t tell us to clear the runway, we do it automatically on our own. And yes, if the weather is low we land on runway 9 because it has lower landing minimums.
Thanks for sharing that!
Having lived in San Diego for over 52 years, yes, I have twice experienced landing and taking off in the "opposite" direction approaching over the ocean. Once due to high winds blowing in from the desert and mountains, and also because of foggy conditions inland and downtown. I had a hard grip on the armrest each time.
Interesting!
Came in once from the ocean side during a horrendous storm. was so glad touch down
Nice Video. Can't believe a city as large as San Diego has only one runway.
One word:LAX.
It can't expand cause it's trapped in by buildings
Many San Diegans can't believe the airport is still downtown. They tried to relocate it about 20 years ago, I guess they couldn't agree on anything.
Oh, and even worse, we wonder why they can't connect trolley service to the airport.
@@Anon1mousa high speed train should connect both cities and LAX.
If I remember correctly, I saw a British Airways 747 fly over Balboa Park on approach. That was around 1999. It was a pretty awesome sight!
Wow!
I've lived in San Diego for over 30 years. There used to be a non stop London to San Diego flight and I'm pretty sure it used a 747 at some point.
@@PeterMasella BA’s SAN route was operated with a 747-400 right up until March 2020.
I work with the Arrive Joint Venture building the new Terminal 1, Parking Plaza, and new elevated roadway. I get to explain the coordination everyday as I conduct orientation and I get to witness it daily.
Cool!
Great video.
In December I was leaving San Diego airport for Boston and there was a strong east wind. So we had to take off the opposite direction. Because of the hill and buildings on the east side of the runway, the plane only filled up a small amount of fuel to limit takeoff weight so it could climb quickly. We had a layover in Pheonix to fill up fuel and then made it to Boston with about a 2-hour delay.
Seeing that big 350 I just returned to SAN from Heathrow on a 777. I didn't realize it when I booked the flight but it was the first time returning from Europe on that big of a plane. It has always been a transfer on the East coast or a mid-continent city.
Thanks for starting my week with some beautiful SoCal views.
Have a good week, Masellaaaaaa!
Cheers from Brazil!
Thank you Francooooooo!
I have landed one time from the west--during rainy weather. Kind of exciting when you know you will pop out of the clouds very close to the airport, but I wonder just how exciting it is for the people living under the flight path on Point Loma.
meh. it's a little quieter for us (no take-off thrust) - it's most important for knowing the weather's changing.
I also have landed once from the west, in the rain. It's Pt. Loma then runway, very quick. Decades back, as a small child, I lived right under the flight path, and at the time there were quite a few smaller planes that would also use the airport. To this day, the sound of small aircraft is somehow soothing to me. Much later, I worked for an aerospace company on the west side of the runway, and the plane noise became background -- we didn't notice it. But we did have to wear earplugs when outside at work.
@@celticsanster i worked for a bit at Teledyne Ryan, on the west of the airport. Would go out at lunch and watch the pattern in the middle of the night.
The noise in Pt Loma/OB is a lot quieter now than i remember as a kid, but we don't notice - and we don't realise that we automatically pause when the noise gets too loud, then continue the conversation when the jet recedes. We usually don't realise WHY we did it until someone else asks. 8D
Such a fun approach and takeoff. My favorite
It’s a cool 😎 airport ✈️ .
Hundreds of flights in and out of San Diego. Twice in the very rare occurrence of a storm have I landed west to east. Well TWICE at KSAN and once on one of my handful of flights in and out of Tijuana to the south. It is so rare to have reverse operations at San Diego. I know LAX flips in the middle of the night but KSAN has a curfew anyway, a takeoff curfew at least as some of the Fed Ex and UPS planes will land after midnight. It's small for what it does resulting in almost every seat full in and out of the airport so forget that empty middle, but I can only imagine what business people think because out of the 100+ airports I've flown into around the world not one can lay claim to be any closer to downtown than KSAN.
And the approach from the east, when sitting on the left side and landing lower than all the buildings you think you can touch is one of the best approaches in the world! I highly recommend a seat on the left side for your first time flying into San Diego. Then once you've seen it a few times you can switch and take a look at Balboa Park and such
San Diego California will be one Area in the USA To Visit not only that One Runaway can work will for me since I'm From The Caribbean Island of Barbados we also have one Runaway at Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados an extended Runaway that is Lol Awesome Video!!!!
When I was in pilot training, SAN had an interecting runway, Niner. Approaches were over all the sailboats in the harbor and sometimes those masts looked way too close! The opposite direction was never used due to terrain and developments theron.
Great job explaining how San Diego works with one runway! Now I want to go back--maybe this fall! Luv the BA A350! I saw one at Sea-Tac recently, only it was a Singapore Airlines.... When I was at SAN last December, I think the largest plane I saw was a Delta Boeing 767. You really had a quick trip! When I was there, I stayed one night in a hotel near the airport, and it was fun to go for a walk and watch jets climbing after take off!
Thanks so much! What an interesting airport!
The a350 is the biggest plane here regularly (followed by the JAL 787, which I've seen plenty of times) and I've seen it at the gate a few times. I want to say that BA operated the 747 here a few times pre-covid
Resident here. Numerous landings at SAN on 9 and 27. They use 9 for landing due to weather and winds sometimes. Just happened to me June 7 actually a bit before this. Certain times of the year there is very low ceiling and overcast (May Grey/June Gloom).
I flew out two days after you, actually. Sadly because of some delays the fog was gone before we left our gate so I had to takeoff on 27. Ended up landing on 9 on my return flight tho🙃
This summer I traveled Mexico to visit my extended family. Then I went to Tijuana to stay at a hotel for a couple of days, then went through customs to go to San Diego, where I slept at a hotel close to the airport for the night before my flight home. In San Diego, I sat on the left side of the plane, making me see the terminal. Then I landed in Houston then went to Boston (home).
Sounds like you had a great trip!
The airport is considered one of the busiest single runway airport in the world and has since outgrown it's self,but they are doing a 3.5 billion dollar expansion and renovation that's sorely needed.
So true!
I'm a San Diego native who rarely travels maybe 1 flight per year (hoping to increase that) and I've been lucky enough to experience 2 takeoffs and 1 landing in the reverse direction. Pretty crazy since I believe over 95% of flights operate via 27. I believe it is more likely to happen in the morning due to fog (since 27 does not have any ILS instrumentation), however since the airport noise abatement procedure only allows for takeoffs after 0630, the window of time where this can occur is pretty small. When taking off on runway 09 the climb rate is pretty intense and you feel the G forces pretty heavily.
What an exciting airport!
As far as I know, London Gatwick operates as a single-runway airport although it has two runways. The northern runway is used only when the main runway is out of use for any reason. The northern runway is used for taxiing when the main runway is used. Otherwise, the runways are too close together to be used for simultaneous operation - there are some considerations as to how both could be used, but I dont recollect reading any decision has been made. Since the pandemic, I dont know if it is recognised as the world's busiest..
We landed on ILS 9, in last summer on a Alaska B39M. It was my second time landing that direction. This time we arrived midafternoon, when the overcast set in.
Very cool!
I come and go from San Diego a lot. Runway 9 is relatively rare but I've done it probably a half dozen times. I've been on the tarmac a few times when they've had to switch directions. That's a whole ordeal and unless you're one of the first few planes to take off at the time, expect to wait 30-45 minutes as after the first few takeoffs all the planes in the air come down for a solid 20 minutes or more before those in the queue can start going. Timing changes a bit based on circumstance, but usually I can time out the intervals and guess when we'll finally get to go.
From my house I can also see the 27 approach path, I can also see when it's not in effect and it's definitely unusual.
Thanks for sharing!
Hey Peter..I departure getting squeezed in between 2 arrivals...amazing..quite a responsibility on ATC....
They do amazing work!
They do amazing work!
Awesome video 😎
Thanks 😁
What’s the name of the song you chose around 10:24?
Highway One
There was once when I took Alaska and we were taxing on the runway and did a u-turn to take off, was pretty fun because taxi was quicker than usual.
Cool!
Great video, and thanks! You have a new subscriber. :)
Awesome, thank you!
I’ve flown on one of these older winglet-less Alaska 737-900 non-ER aircraft. Is it just me, or are they noisier and vibrate more than the newer ones? A ceiling panel came loose from the center on takeoff, and was hanging by the luggage bin: a flight attendant had to snap it back in place.
I never noticed, but that’s an interesting observation
A few years ago, coming from Mexico City, we were late in the final approach, I asked myself, why? Since I fly to San Diego a lot and it had never happened before, the cloud ceiling was low and could not be seen. My surprise is to see the sea before touching land, in San Diego? no way, but yes. Upon landing, I asked the Captain and he told me that he did not have instrumentation on the MD82 and with that poor visibility it took a long time for the tower to clear the traffic to give us the opportunity to land in the opposite direction, because it was less risky. That was my experience. Greetings.
As a San Diego native, I have flown from a to this airport many times. Never have we landed or departed runway 9. Although I have watched aircraft arriving and departing using it. BA use to fly Boeing 747-400 from London to San Diego, I flew on BA from Gatwick to San Diego via LAX, the equipment on that flight was a DC-10. I was on a bus near the airport and I've seen Air Force One 747 taxi for departure.
So cool!
Native to San Diego as well. Haven't seen the 747, but I have seen the air force two 757 I think
Also have seen Air Force One 747 come into and depart from North Island NAS. At the time, I worked on the Point and so had a completely unobstructed view to the east. I've not forgotten how big AFOne was and how we were able to see it when it was miles out to the east, over the mountains. With its paint job, it has the uncanny effect of seeming to appear ghost-like out of the sky, almost an apparition. I wonder if the Kennedy (?) design was intentionally aiming for that effect. In any case, even the ex-Navy guys around me were geeking out over AFOne!
John Wayne is the same, one east/west runway, they turn you around based on wind/weather.
This is incorrect. SNA had 2 parallel runways 20L and 20R. Although you're right in that the operating reality is similar to SAN because 20L is very short
San Diego has the busiest single runway airport in the world. Gatwick are often listed ahead despite having two runways.
It's an amazing operation!
Peter, what would have been cool is to depart from a city with one runway with your destination another city with one runway... Oakland right up the street... I have flown out of Oakland many times, and back in the 80s I actually got to see the Concorde land there. I have also seen the Antonov AN-225 take off and land several times on Oakland's single runway.
I just checked and Oakland has 4 runways....but I assume you mean that airlines only use one of them?
@@PeterMasella Actually Oakland has only 1 commercial runway for airliners. Oakland is actually 2 airports in 1. OAK is a primary commercial service airport with four runways: one primary air carrier runway at South Field (Runway 11-29) and three runways at North Field (Runway 9R-27L, Runway 9L-27R, and Runway 15-33). The Airport is served by several passenger and cargo airlines. Runway 29 is the normal landing runway, but, during inclement weather Runway 11 is used. I haven't been to the airport itself in a while, but I do sometimes go to Harbor Bay Drive and spot planes on initial climbout, or to the San Leandro Marina to catch the planes on final to Runway 29.
rwy 9 in not uncommon in the fall for evening arrivals. Fog is common that time of year in the evenings.
Flew in with a Japan Airlines 787, the recent was last December 19th. Fun times.
Nice!
When 9 is in use, those of us who live under the path know that the weather has changed. i've seen the pattern switch several times in a day when a front is moving through. But yes, our prevailing wind is a strong westerly.
Thanks for watching!
seem like I took off toward the city on old frontier airlines and over the hill on a hot day and a full flight in August 1980. flown into and out San many times and never took off again or landed on runway 9 again.
British Airways will also operate a 747 and Lufthansa had a non stop A340 to Berlin. Terminal #1 remodel will increase the number of gates by 50% or more
Cool!
I used to work in Balboa Park and would frequently see the British Airways 747 fly over as I was walking to my car in the parking lot. It was awesome.
Lufthansa currently operates an A350-900 to Munich, British Airways only operated the 747 before the pandemic. Terminal-1 is being demolished to make way for the new, much bigger Terminal-1.
@@Len1966 14 months at the SAN ARFF Station 2017-18
I've see cargo planes land in the opposite direction late at night (past curfew) in clear weather. My guess is it's to keep the noise to a minimum by not flying over as many residential buildings.
Makes sense
It was during Covid. You can see other people masked up and seats blocked off in the terminal for social distancing.
Now that the construction at La Guardia Airport is complete have there been fewer delays with flights there? Because I saw a video about a year ago on Coby Explanes and he said that even though more space has been created around the tarmac for planes to move around and there are more taxiways now Coby said that all of those improvements don't do much to reduce delays because of the 2 intersecting runways. Have you seen a reduction in delays there?
There are fewer ramp delays but nothing changes when it comes to airspace delays and weather avoidance. ATC delays remain the same.
Hi Peter, just stumbled upon this video as I was looking for updates on the new T1 at SAN.
Great video! I was wondering, do you listen to the air traffic control chat live or do you download the audio after the flights during video editing.
Either way, where do you get the recordings from because that’s pretty cool!
A few months ago on a landing in SAN, we had a go around kinda last minute which spooked everyone on the plane followed by a few circles in the sky.
Would’ve been cool to hear what was going on as the pilot didn’t give us any updates.
You’ve got my subscription!
Welcome aboard! Thanks so much! I use ATC from liveatc.net after my flight during editing.
You got to fly on one of the rare 900s with no winglets
I thought that plane was “different”
You were on a rare 739 because I think that’s the only 739 without any winglets
Very cool!
That's what those things are called? Oh, gosh, I'm so embarrassed. I worked in aerospace for some years but never caught on to what those cute little things on the ends of wings were called. At least I didn't call them "Cute" out loud to the engineers! At least, I have learned something new.
I took a flight that went in the "wrong" direction and it was during choppy conditions. You just have to trust that the pilots have the experience to know that it's still safe to take off.
:)
Hi, thanks for the video .. do you know what is the separation minima on the final approach in this airport ? My guess is 5nm since the second landing traffic was 5nm when the ATC instructed your pilot to line up and wait 😅
I don’t know! Thanks for watching.
What happens when a single-runway airport has to shut its runway down for maintenance? Every runway eventually has to be repaved.
How did you get the recording of the ATC comm.? What type of radio did you use?
Liveatc.net
How did you get the radio chatter?
I use liveatc.net
Hi Peter I love your videos - excellent work and detail throughout each of them! Thank you for all the insight. As a novice, one thing I'm curious about is how you can tap into the in-flight radio communications between the control towers and the flight crew?
I use liveatc.net for the ATC Audio.
I've been on Rwy 090 ILS arrival several months ago.
Cool.
You were lucky to see that BA heavy land. SAN gets only a couple wide body flights per day
Yes!
They seem to operate the opposite direction in the mornings when there’s fog. So this morning there operating easterly flow.
That does happen, yes
Yes, I've noticed that on Wed mornings especially.
I’m really surprised that a large city like San Diego only has a single runway at its airport, is there a reason why they can’t expand to add another runway?
Limited space, hosting around it and a body of water which is busy with boats and ships
Very true!
Absolutely CHAOTIC and RIDICULOUS! What were the planners even thinking? What happens in bad weather? In Chicago at ORD, we have 3 sets of parallel runways plus 2 diagonal crosswind runways ! A total of 8 runways.
The airport was built 100 years ago well before jets and passenger air travel. There is no other place to move it since San Diego is all hills and completely developed.
Didn’t San Diego airport have a small second runway that doesn’t exist anymore?
Can you make a video about How Phnom Penh and Siem Reap Airport’s single runway works?!
unfortunately I will not be able to travel there.
No winglet in a 737?
I think it was their only non winglet 737.
Please try to make videos on LAX.
Thank you Peter
I did try! Check out my video called This is not LAX airport.
You got a lot of things wrong, socal departure is not the same thing and does not cover lax, instead it is split into three+ section, one covers San Diego, one cover LAX, and etc. along center controllers are called enroute controllers, also when there are five mile finals it is common at any airport, if the sequencing would be closer they would say “runway 27 no delay cleared for takeoff” other than that great vid.
@ Peter Masella Hi Peter 👋 do you wonder how a 4 runway municipal airport works ?
A lot easier than an an airport with one runway!
5 miles from San Diego Airport? That’s about where Lincoln Park is located according to Google Maps!
I live in San Diego and my last flight home from a trip back east we landed from the west over the ocean instead if the normal path over the city. It felt really weird coming in from the opposite direction!
Pretty rare!
I've landed on runway 9 once (never took off on it tho). Hella trippy. Also hello fellow San Diegan
San Diego has been looking for a larger airport location since at least the 60's.
Wow
How are the flights nowadays, are they all pretty full? Nice night time video Peter.👍🇺🇸
This was filmed a few months ago and I had an empty seat next to me both ways but now the flights are very very full!
While SAN is the busiest single runway airport in the US, it is definitely not the busiest in the world. I believe that London Standstead holds that distinction. (And London Luton is up there also.)
SAN is busier I think
Edit: it also has a departure curfew (because unlike London airports its in the middle of downtown) so less flights can depart
Twice arriving and departing for LAS on spirit. I Arrival Mon from EWR and today back JFK on JetBlue i arrival Mon on United
Cool!
it’s not called the ramp when they leave. we call it the ally way
san diego's single runway is a disaster on bad weather days and they continue to expand without resolving this problem.
Yikes!
You know you’re seating on the fuel tank right?
Yes.
The three-million-plus population figure for the "metro area" is somewhat misleading, as that encompasses all of San Diego County, an area as large as the state of Connecticut. And while it's true that another city the size of San Diego lies just across the border, Tijuana has its own airport with multiple runways. Many passengers heading for Mexican destinations use that facility instead.
Very interesting! I had always thought that airport was just used by people in Mexico.
@@PeterMasellaThere's a special processing terminal (called the CrossBorder Xpress) on the US side of the border that is connected by sky-bridge to Tijuana airport. You literally walk up and over the border wall and ride an escalator down into TIJ airport. It's pretty cool! Try it sometime, it'll make a good video.
Good use of music at a low level in the mix. It doesn't take the starring role from the narrarator.
Thanks!
I have never been in ksan yet but I have been here in a game called Microsoft flight simulator 2020
Cool 😎
Seeing British Airways land is nothing compared to when they used to land in the 1980s flying the 747. If you think that’s exhilarating, watch British Airways on short final have to make a go around turn out to the right and come back to 27 on the localizer and try it again. Before Montgomery Field had an ILS in the 70s pilots would have to make the ILS to runway nine Lindberg field and then break off and stay VFR till you got to MYF.
Possibly the worst international airport in the country
Mask outside by yourself, instant by by!!
Oh...the planes wait their turn....video OVER
Mumbai International airport has way more traffic than San Diego.
👍
Yeah but it has more than one runway right?
737-900 with no winglets 🧐,🤔🤔🤔🤔