Easyjet UK Flights – 05 Mar 2010 – Trail and No Trail

UPDATED:14th July 2010

This is part of some research I have yet to fully write up.Like many people, I have become concerned about the number of these trails on some days and therefore have even gone to the trouble of investing in an AirNav RadarBox "virtual radar" device for my computer, so that I can determine a little more about air traffic movements over my house. (The CAA and other people I wrote to could not provide this information in retrospect).

These can be purchased in various places, including e-bay: The cost includes a 12-month subscription to the database service which allows a number of the various flight details to be downloaded.
Having detected, identified and photographed these 2 EasyJet flights, I made this video and wrote the letter below recently (will post any replies on my website www.checktheevidence… later) I just sent this letter, along with this video and the other data referenced here to Easyjet (UK). I will be writing more about this over the coming weeks and months – but it is time-consuming working through the data I have collected. Here is a copy of the letter (including still images)
Data file containing radarbox data dump and video images.


Like quite a few people I was surprised to detect this result – as I had kind of assumed that only unmarked planes would be “caught” making trails.

I was asked by someone about the AirNav RadarBox picking up military flights. Here are the notes from the manual for the unit: 

Why can I see aircraft in the list but they do not appear on the map?

Some aircraft, although they are fitted with ADS-B equipment, do not transmit their position. Without position information, it is impossible to display the aircraft on the map. In the example below, the first 2 aircraft in the list have ADS-B equipment, but they are not transmitting position information. However, it is still possible to see the identity and type of the aircraft and their altitude. The last 2 aircraft are transmitting full position information (shown by the Globe in the first column) and will appear on the map. Note that military aircraft will often show in the aircraft list, but for security reasons, do not transmit their position.

 

Using the Radarbox over time allows data to be captured and I am hoping to make some comparative measurements between days with no trails and days with high numbers of trails to see what emerges. Some of the log files I have collected have 800,000 lines of data.


Some civilian flights do not broadcast their position either – only their height – and some don’t broadcast anything.

 


22 Mear Drive,

Borrowash,

Derbs,

DE72 3QW.

 

Tel: 01332 674271

 

e-mail: ad.johnson@ntlworld….

 

4 June, 2010

Re: Easyjet Air Traffic Enquiry

 

Dear Madam/Sir,

 

I am writing to enquire about a “persistent jet trail” incident which occurred over (or nearly over) my house on March 05, 2010.

 

I have become concerned about the number of these trails on some days and therefore have even gone to the trouble of investing a not inconsiderable amount in a “virtual radar” device for my computer, so that I can determine a little more about air traffic movements over my house.

 

My question is fairly simple. I tracked 2 Easyjet flights over my house – details below – and one flight was leaving a long, persistent trail, the other was not. I photographed them and took a short video clip. I have made this into a video, a copy of which is on the enclosed disk. You can see in the 2nd video clip that there is another plane, ahead of EZY239 which is also leaving a much longer trail.

 

So, why was one leaving a long trail and the other was not – they were flying at almost the same height, at nearly the same speed, in the same general direction, on the same day and it was the same type of aircraft.

 

I would be very pleased to have an explanation about this – and I know quite a few other people who are also interested in this subject.

 

Yours Sincerely,

 

Andrew Johnson

 

 

Date: 05 March 2010

Time

Flight No

Reg.

Route

Min Ht

Max Ht

Aircraft Type

Ground Speed

16:32

EZY067

G-EZIR

Luton  – Glasgow

32525

33675

A319-111

380-390

17:24

EZY239

G-EZIN

Stansted – Edinburgh

32900

33000

A319-111

384

 


 

Photographs

These photographs were taken with an Canon SX20-IS which is a 12 Megapixel unit and has a 20x optical zoom (Approx 1 minute difference between camera time setting and PC time setting).

 

16:32 – EZY067

(Photo taken facing roughly west).

 

Airnav Radar Box Track


 

 

17:24 – EZY 239



(Photo taken facing roughly east north east).

 

Airnav Radar Box Track


On 14th July 2010,. I received a much more prompt, but unhelpful response by e-mail on 


From: easyJet Customer Experience Team [mailto:easyjet@…] 
Sent: 14 July 2010 12:22
To: ad.johnson@…
Subject: Letter Sent by Post o 04 June – no response [Incident: 100713-020119]


Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support centre. 


 Subject
Letter Sent by Post o 04 June – no response
 
 Discussion Thread
 Response (Jacqueline Kenny) 14/07/2010 11.21 AM
Dear Mr Johnson,

Thank you for contacting us.

I apologise but I am unable to answer your operational query.

I would like to inform you that if you wish to talk to one of our representatives, our Customer Experience Team is available under the following telephone numbers:

In the UK, 0871 244 2366 (calls cost 10p per minute; calls from mobiles and other networks may cost more).

Our Operations department is option 1.

If you are calling from abroad, please telephone the relevant number below:

In Spain, 807 260026 (calls cost €0.87 per minute; calls from mobiles and other networks may cost more)
In Switzerland, 0900 000 195 (calls cost CHF1.50 per minute; calls from mobiles and other networks may cost more)
In the Netherlands, 0900 265 8022 (calls cost €0.80 per minute; calls from mobiles and other networks may cost more)
In Greece, 08252008980 (calls only from landline)
In Germany, 0900 11 00 161 (calls cost €1.03 per minute; calls from mobiles and other networks may cost more)
In Italy, 899678990 (calls cost €0.96 per minute; calls from mobiles and other networks may cost more)
In Austria, 0900 370120 (calls cost € 1.08 per minute; calls from mobiles and other networks may cost more)
In Poland, 0703 203 025 (calls cost 1,28 PLN per minute; calls from mobiles and other networks may cost more) 
In France 0899 65 00 11 (calls cost €1.34 per call and €0.34 per minute; calls from mobiles and other networks may cost more)

If the country you are calling from is not included in the list please call 0044 870 6 000 000 (calls made to this number will be charged at the prevailing overseas call rate).

Furthermore, our contact centre is open for business from 08:00 to 20:00 hours Monday to Friday and from 09:00 to 17:00 hours on weekends (UK time).

I realise that you have had a negative experience on this occasion and I hope that this will not deter you from using our services again in the future. Once again, I do apologise for the inconvenience caused.

I do hope I have been able to answer your question fully. To update your query please reply to this email and we will be happy to assist you further.

Yours sincerely,

Jacqueline Kenny
Customer Service Representative

 Auto-Response 13/07/2010 06.44 PM
Dear 

Thank you for submitting your question. Your reference number for this question is 100713-020119. We would like our Customers to have a speedy response to their enquiry, with this in mind we have looked at your email and have provided you with some suggestions for an instant answer to your question. We hope you will find these helpful.

Title: easyJet’s Lowest Price Guarantee
Link: easyjet.custhelp.com…

Title: I had a flight from/to East Midlands Airport. What do I do now?
Link: easyjet.custhelp.com…

Title: How do I request a refund for my cancelled flight?
Link: easyjet.custhelp.com…

If we have not found an immediate answer to your question, we aim to respond to your question as soon as possible. 

Yours sincerely

easyJet Customer Experience Team

 Customer (Andrew Johnson) 13/07/2010 06.44 PM
Dear Sir/Madam,

I am still awaiting a response to a letter I sent over 1 month ago to you
registered office at Hangar 89, London Luton Airport, Luton, Bedfordshire
LU2 9PF.

I included a disk, which I cannot include here, though I have posted a video
in relation to the incident here:

www.youtube.com/watc…

If this query is not answered, I will have to escalate it through the
Department of Environment or some other body.

Yours Sincerely,

Andrew Johnson

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