Flytecomm Tracking of Janet Flights (and a few others)

Click here to get the basic flytecom tracking webpage, which will pop up in a new window. The airport code for McCarran is LAS. The airport code for the Tonopah Test Range (TTR) is TNX. Enter the codes as shown below, swapping the fields as desired.

You will note that all the Janet flights go to the TTR, even though everyone knows this is not the case since some do land at Groom Lake. Comparing these arrival schedules, you will note that some unusual events. For instance, two Janet planes arrived at LAS from the TNX at the exact time, namely flights 236 and 901. Flights 901 and 291 are the only two flights that appear to be in one direction, ie. flight 901 goes from TNX to LAS but does not return to TNX. Similarly, flight 291 leaves LAS for TNX but does not return. Note that flights 291 and 289 landed at TNX within a minute of each other.

Note the first entry here. According to the log, this plane did a round robin, i.e. landed at the departing airport. Remember that TNX is used for both the TTR and Groom Lake, so this flight was actually between the two bases. [Sometimes Groom Lake is indicated as TKM rather than TNX.] The flight plan was:

TNX..TPH..TPH206010..LIDAT.J92.BTY..BTY115018..LAS294048..BTY060030..TNX

which indicates a flight from the TTR to Groom Lake. TPH is the civilian airport in Tonopah, which is near the TTR and very often is the 2nd fix in flights leaving the TTR.

The route is approximated below:

Eagle Jet Charter flies out of Las Vegas to Point Mugu and San Nicolas Island, both Navy properties. It is unknown if this is related to Janet flights, which are generally considered to be either DOE or USAF related.

Civilian flight to Palmdale's Plant 42

This plane is one busy beaver. It left Travis AFB at an unknown time, arriving in Las Vegas at 9:16AM. It left Vegas at 10:23AM, landing at Daggett, which serves the National Training Center. There is no record of the plane going to Edwards AFB, but that is next on the timeline.  It leaves Edwards at 1:46PM, and lands at Vandenburg AFB at 2:26PM. At 3:01PM, it leaves Vandenburg for Fresno (civilian airport). At 4:12PM, it leaves Fresno and arrives at Monterey (civilian airport) at 4:38PM. 

Flight Twilight 850 passing through Moffet Federal Airfield The Twilight callsign is used by Sunset Aviation. [Thanks to Brian W. from the yahoogroup baymilcom.]

The flight leg from Beatty to Tonopah seems to be missing. Hmmmh. More information on Flight International can be found here. Part of their business is military training related. They have had one fatal accident doing such work:

Date:	05 MAR 1986
Type:	Learjet 35
Operator:	Flight International
Registration:	N39DM
Msn / C/n:	35-040
Year built:
Crew:	2 fatalities / 2 on board
Passengers:	0 fatalities / 0 on board
Total:	2 fatalities / 2 on board
Collision casualties:	2 fatalities
Airplane damage:	Written off
Location:	27mls SE of San Clemente Island, CA (USA)
Phase:	Cruise
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:
Destination airport:

Remarks:
Midair collision between Learjets N39DM and N97DM while engaged in a surface vessel attack training under US Navy control.

 

Date:	05 MAR 1986
Type:	Learjet 24D
Operator:	Flight International
Registration:	N97DM
Msn / C/n:	24D-253
Year built:
Crew:	2 fatalities / 2 on board
Passengers:	0 fatalities / 0 on board
Total:	2 fatalities / 2 on board
Collision casualties:	2 fatalities
Airplane damage:	Written off
Location:	27mls SE of San Clemente Island, CA (USA)
Phase:	Cruise
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:
Destination airport:

Remarks:
Midair collision between Learjets N39DM and N97DM while engaged in a surface vessel attack training under US Navy control.

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Flight WWW901 is an usual Sunday flight.

Other useful airport codes