Author / Mark Zee
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North Korean airspace: a year later – is it still safe for international operators?
If you’re looking for an update on “Is North Korea Safe to Overfly“, this is it. Answer: Yes. Here’s why, in the bedtime story version: Once upon a time, there was a…
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How OpsGroup works – for questions
I love how the hive-mind works. We have 5000 members, and so it shouldn’t be surprising, but it’s still awesome to see it in action. Yesterday, in slack, a member asked: Now,…
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Why are we still flying airline passengers over war zones?
Here’s the level of inconsistency we’ve reached in international air transport: we take each passenger, scrutinize their booking, check the no-fly-list, watch them on CCTV, pull them apart at TSA, remove anything…
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Ethiopia risking flight safety to cover up ATC strike
Ethiopian ATC on strike, no Notams, government hush up OPSGROUP alert for the Addis Ababa FIR Airspace risk – unrated controllers, some foreign and unfamiliar Air Traffic Controllers are on strike in…
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OpsGroup removes North Korea airspace warnings
OpsGroup is today removing all airspace warnings regarding North Korea from our guidance to aircraft operators. Specifically: We are removing the Level 1 – Do Not Fly – warning for the Pyongyang…
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Is North Korea safe to overfly again?
Update: OpsGroup removed North Korea warnings on May 14, 2018 A friend of mine is a grumpy flight dispatcher at a Large Canadian Airline. We have a standing agreement that when North…
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Fixing Notams – we’re on it. Help us.
OK. We’re done writing articles about it, and making goat jokes – we’ve moved the “Fixing Notams” job to the top of our list.. OpsGroup is all about information – getting the essential…
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Here’s what pilots and controllers REALLY think about Notams
We think Notams suck. No other way to say it. After a few articles we wrote (BS Notams, The Notam Goat Show, and more worryingly, the MH17 Notam problem), we got some…
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OpsGroup – the power of the group
The power of the group In the last 30 years, there has been a massive change in how the world works: thank you, internet. We are witnessing a shift from the power…
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Here’s why North Korean missiles are now a real threat to Civil Aviation
Update: FSB removed North Korea warnings on May 14, 2018 July 2017: First launches of ICBM’s from North Korea Western portion of Japanese airspace is a new risk area New OPSGROUP guidance…
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ATC Nightmare in the Hills
This article was originally published on medium.com In any one of the plausible alternative endings to this event, a departing Boeing 777 impacts the San Gabriel mountains at about 5000 feet, just…
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Airbus 380 flips CL604 – full report is now published
Interim report finally released by the German BFU Flight Service Bureau version of events confirmed New pictures released by the investigators Back in March, FSB covered a major wake turbulence upset experienced by…
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This is what an Airbus 380 looks like when it’s coming to get you
New guidance issued to OpsGroup by Flight Service Bureau New warnings to be issued by Air Traffic Controllers – EASA SIB to follow Updated 2017 SLOP offset procedures With the A380 vs…
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A personal note about NOTAMs
I learned a lot this week. On Wednesday, I published an article in our International Flight Ops Bulletin. Our normal readership is 40,000, and that usually results in 4,000 or so immediate…
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The problem of Bullshit Notams
This article created a firestorm of engagement – several hundred emails and 127,000 people that visited the blog. Most of it was overwhelmingly positive. Some of it wasn’t. Please read my…
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What altitude is ‘safe enough’ to overfly a Conflict Zone?
Most conflict zone guidance from Aviation Authorities is based on the risk posed by MANPADS – Man Portable Air Defence Systems, or more descriptively – Shoulder Launched Surface to Air Missiles (SAMS). Large-Unit SAM attacks on…
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Airbus Flight 101 – Relief to Haiti
After Hurricane Matthew last week, MTPP/Port-au-Prince (Toussaint Louverture) became a central focus in relief efforts for Haiti. One of our OPSGROUP members, Airbus Industrie – took an A330 that’s normally used for…
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Pan Am, 727’s, and 1977 …
This afternoon I took a boat across the river to the Jersey side and looked back at New York City; amongst the skyscrapers in Midtown one stood out – the MetLife building. It…
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What is OPS GROUP, exactly?
Yes, it’s the most common question we get. What is OPS GROUP ? Well, we’re not exactly sure yet. The question mark may well be part of the name, because to us it represents both…
