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View Full Version : Reliability of Passur ?



Speedbird1
2007-12-06, 08:38 AM
I have been using Passur to track aircraft that I see pass over me for years. On Tuesday, my friend arrived on flight NWA 624. She called at 1700 from her window seat to say that her plane was taxying and waiting for a gate. The next day, I decided to track her arrival route to JFK on Passur. Strangely, Passur shows that her aircraft was over Hempstead at 1700 at 12,500 feet. This is a 10-minute discrepancy from her phone call on the ground. How can this be explained? My cellphone also shows that her call was made at 1700 from the ground, so the cell times are correct. How could the Airbus be on the ground and at 12,500 simultaneously? Also, her flight mysteriously "froze" on Passur just after it joined the 31R Loc. Usually, Passur is "right on the money". When I search for an aircraft at a certain time, it is shown at exactly the correct time. I am truly puzzled.

PhilDernerJr
2007-12-06, 08:48 AM
Passur is delayed 10 minutes for all movements. It is not exactly real time.

You also get various anomalies, a plane just disappearing, making a 180 degree turn or whatever it might be. It's a fun program but I wouldn't use any information off of their as bible.

Speedbird1
2007-12-06, 09:08 AM
Yes, Passur is delayed 10 minutes when watching today's current airline movements for security reasons. After 1 hour, the flight information (time,flight #, destination,etc.) is retrieved and displayed. For example, I noted a B747 pass over my house on Wednesday afternoon, but I was not able to make-out the logo. When typing-in the exact time the aircraft passed overhead later, Passur was "right on the money". It showed the aircraft at the right location and at the right time. It was Air China, by the way, heading to Beijing. Evidently, this is not always the case that correct info is shown. Is there any program more reliable or will I have to rely on Passur?

hiss srq
2007-12-06, 07:35 PM
If you have the right connections or job position you can have Passur in live form. Well 2.5 seconds but it is useing a real radar setup The system is called Insight. Most major airlines are useing this system in the NY area along with other organizations in the NY aviation arena. I have two setups in my office.

LGA777
2007-12-07, 12:27 AM
To echo what hiss said, I am fortunate to be able to use the live version at work, and I can't believe how we got along without it in the past. It has it's imperfections, sometimes when our inbounds from the south fly past the airport for the approach to 22 or the DME to 31 they dissapear briefly but then re-appear in 2-3 mins. All in all IMO a GREAT product, I am greatful my employer wisely chose to purchase it.

Regards

LGA777