60 Airplanes in 2 Minutes - London Heathrow Traffic Madness
Why Aviation Stack Exchange recommends it
Aviation Stack Exchange users link it as a real-world example of how closely aircraft are spaced on approach into Heathrow, and of several airliners appearing in one shot.
Recommended by 0 people across 0 different months, 2015 to 2024.
What it is
A short plane-spotting clip from London Heathrow showing a steady stream of airliners on final approach, with spacing that looks very tight. Filmed by the Cargospotter channel, it features Boeing 737, 747, 767 and 777 and Airbus A319 to A340 types, and notes crosswind buffeting on a 747.
What people said
Cites Gremlin · 2015-11 · Aviation Stack Exchange · on “Is it possible for more than one airplane intercept the ILS at the same time?”
I think the image is from LHR, where they use pretty closely packed spacing, especially in a headwind ( [LINK] ) Here is a video, that shows much the same spacing as the photo - [this video] And speculation, I don't know for sure -- but LHR has two close, parallel runways, so perhaps the following plane goes to the other runway in case of difficulties?
Cites FreeMan · 2019-03 · Aviation Stack Exchange · on “Why would one plane in this picture not have gear down yet?”
This image (as posted in another question [LINK] ) is a [this video] thumbnail: [LINK] I noticed that the lead twin (737?) has gear down, the 747 behind does not (appear to) have gear down, but the third plane in line (another twin) does have gear down as well. Why would the 747 not be gear down at this point?
Cites Snow · 2024-05 · Aviation Stack Exchange · on “What is the most airliners shown flying together in a single photo?”
This old question got bumped recently, but piqued my interest. There's a fair few stock photos of stacked airliners, but no source quoted so they could be composites. I did however come across a YouTube of someone filming approaches into Heathrow on one particularly busy period. There's frequently 4 airliners in shot, obviously more would be visible had the field of view been wider.