Fun times: AGC (Allegheny County Airport, West Mifflin) is currently shut down due to having zero snow equipment.

Submitted by samosamancer t3_yzx2nq in pittsburgh

I’m an aviation geek and listen to air traffic control sometimes (seriously, it can get pretty hilarious at times, and it can read like a suspense story during bad weather). A Cessna’s coming in from Nashville. Pittsburgh Control got their attention, saying they just heard that AGC’s been shut down due to these intense bands of snow, so they’re diverting to PIT.

Do they only get snow plows, etc. seasonally? You’d think they‘d have dedicated equipment onsite just for them, right?

We’ll see if/when they reopen in the morning.

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spinfire t1_ix3gxgs wrote

AGC is my home field. They have snow removal. Plenty of equipment. They actually do a great job of it for an airport that size. But their policy is typical for small airports in that if they get a “nil” breaking action report then the field is closed until snow removal can be completed. Additionally, during active snow removal operations the airport would be temporarily closed. They only plow one of the two runways.

While the ATC tower is open 24/7 at AGC, given that heavy snow was not forecast and all the snow is gone by morning, I would not anticipate airport ops having people sitting at the airport waiting to plow in the middle of the night. This type of flight (likely a kidney given who owns the twin Cessna you heard) and Labquest and Stat medevac are the only things typically active in the middle of the night.

Around the time of that flight’s arrival a Stat medevac helicopter took off and immediately returned: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N138HN/history/20221120/0624Z/KAGC/KAGC

This is perhaps an indication that cloud, wind, and visibility conditions were much worse than anticipated around this time. If the helicopter returned due to weather and this was relayed on the phone from tower to approach control this could easily result in the twin Cessna choosing to divert rather than try an approach.

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samosamancer OP t1_ix4v11w wrote

Thank you so much for this incredible explanation! It makes perfect sense. I wasn’t trying to criticize - the controller sounded confused as well. But of course small airports/airfields would have slightly different operating parameters for situations like this, and these snow squalls have been sudden and severe.

Do you work at AGC, or are you a private or hobbyist pilot? I’d love to start taking flying lessons, and I’m kind of considering a career change since airlines are looking for FAs and/or pilots…

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spinfire t1_ix4wm7d wrote

I’m a private (hobby) pilot, I own a 1977 Cessna Cardinal RG which I keep at AGC.

I’d definitely recommend flying lessons. PFTC, the flight school at AGC, is very focused on collegiate style programs (they fit under part 141, not part 61, if that means anything to you). So it might not be a good fit for someone who is looking to take periodic lessons rather than do it all at once. I’ve never had an interest in career flying but you’re right that airlines are doing a lot of hiring right now.

At AGC, I’m pretty sure there is not an airport ops person on the field 24/7, they’re just on call and come on for emergencies after hours. But I’m not certain of that. AGC has a 24 hour control tower which is somewhat unusual for its size although there are often Labquest flights coming in and out late at night due to the Quest lab in Greentree, plus of course Stat Medevac at all hours when they are needed.

The other airports you mentioned - Rostraver and Finleyville - do not have control towers and are not attended overnight. The approach controller would have no knowledge of conditions there.

Happy to answer any other questions about learning to fly or flying in the PGH area!

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DaleGribble312 t1_ix3hh8x wrote

So it was one flight that was impacted?

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spinfire t1_ix3i7qs wrote

Yes, and the medevac flight that returned after 2 minutes.

Looking deeper at the historical reported weather, the field dropped to 3/4 mile visibility at this time in heavy snow. Minimums for the runway 28 ILS approach are 1/2 mile visibility, if I were operating that flight with 30 knot wind gusts and that little wiggle room on visibility in a heavy snow squall I’d definitely choose to divert rather than shoot the approach.

Snow can drop visibility below minimums very quickly.

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DaleGribble312 t1_ix3iu69 wrote

Ok good, I was super worried this was like important or something.

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PrincessBella1 t1_ix5a1p5 wrote

This makes more sense. Besides medivac, this is the airport used for transporting organs for transplant. There have been times that we have had to wait for an organ in the winter and you have explained why. Thanks

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spinfire t1_ix5bswu wrote

Winter weather tends to be pretty impactful to aviation. Usually summer thunderstorms have relatively short lived impact as they move quickly. But winter can bring widespread low clouds and fog to Pittsburgh along with high winds. Even if there’s no snow. These snow squalls are worse, if you’ve driven on the highway in one you can see how quick they can drop the visibility to nothing!

I’ve seen quite a few organs moving through AGC, or at least I’m pretty sure that’s what I’ve seen. They usually show up on a small turboprop (usually a Pilatus PC-12) or small biz jet. Then someone takes a cooler off and loads it into an ambulance…

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spinfire t1_ix3jzke wrote

Just to give an understanding of the weather at this time, with 3/4 mile visibility and a Cessna 310 traveling at 100 mph on final approach, you have about 40 seconds after first seeing the runway lights to determine if the runway is sufficiently clear to continue and land. In a snow squall this heavy the tower controller would not be able to see the runway well enough to give a report.

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Swill_srna t1_ix34904 wrote

How do you listen to air traffic control?

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Lil_Phantoms_Lawyer t1_ix39pya wrote

https://www.liveatc.net/

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samosamancer OP t1_ix4vx5b wrote

I go planewatching at PIT and listen to the approach/departure and tower feeds. I really need to check out AGC sometime too.

But sometimes I’ll open FlightRadar24, look for a really busy airport (ATL, JFK, LAX, NRT (Tokyo)), and listen to the controllers work their magic.

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chuckie512 t1_ix49fd9 wrote

It's all unencrypted, there's consumer-grade radio scanners that can pick up the frequencies.

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