FlightRadar24 - high traffic following invasion

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Is anyone else monitoring the air traffic on FlightRadar24? There was an 8 minute wait to get on to the website!

Lots of military aircraft.

@BabbleBee

21,000 people watching this one… RSD088 St Petersburg - Washington

I have been wondering about that one. Interesting plane, interesting flight plan.

@BabbleBee

21,000 people watching this one… RSD088 St Petersburg - Washington

Russian special squadron flight. Very interesting.

@BabbleBee

21,000 people watching this one… RSD088 St Petersburg - Washington

Well I'll be .... interesting!!

USA expelling 12 Russian diplomats, maybe coming to pick them up?

How odd?
Defectors?

Could be something like diplomats. I did wonder that. I'm so hoping there's something on the news later which may explain. Defectors would be more interesting, but doubt they would leave on a Kremlin operated aircraft to Washington.

Russian government aircraft= Diplomats going one way or the other makes sense.

Can’t see defectors stealing an IL-96, filing a flight plan, being “visible” by way of transponding and heading north out or LED, so staying in Russian airspace for an hour plus over one of the most militarized areas of Russia (the Kola Peninsula).

Just also noticed there’s a Nordwind flight going Moscow-Cancun that has had to do similar to get out of Russia.

It has followed the sort of route much beloved by the Soviet long range military aircraft in the Cold War when they sometimes used to fly to Cuba: gone North over the Kola, then around the top of the North Cape and then south west through the Greenland-Iceland gap

I wonder if that's got something to do with the many Russian people fleeing to Mexico from the US. Russia seem to have defaulted back to cold war regimes. Makes me think we are in for the long haul again.

Another special flight squadron. This one doesn’t look like it’s moving on the app

https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/from-russia-with-money-business-jet-departures-from-russia/

Interesting article about the business jet departures from Russia

More than 300 private flights left Russia from 24th of February through 27 February and nearly 1000 private flights departed Russia during the month of February.

Unfortunately it doesn't say how many one would expect to leave in February.

Not unless they have ,"commandered " the plane?

Told Mr p they were going to X and escape to z.

Babble., worrying it's going to Syria.

@Tigersonvaseline

Babble., worrying it's going to Syria.

Not that unusual I suspect, the Syrian regime has had strong links with the Russians (and the Soviets before them) for decades.

It’s throwing some strange shapes on FR! Not sure it’s being tracked correctly.

I know not me

It makes no feel uneasy.

Would make me feel more uneasy if there was no Russian plane movement ;)

@BabbleBee

It’s throwing some strange shapes on FR! Not sure it’s being tracked correctly.

Agreed.

Last seen on the ADS-B tracker site in the area of Sochi heading south west…no sign now Not sure what the overflight situation Turkey v Russia.

I honestly don’t understand why there would be any uneasiness about this one aircraft …Back in the day the Southern Med used to be busy at times with Soviet military ships and aircraft transiting between the likes of Libya, Syria and Moscow. We know what happened to Libya but the Russia/Syria regime links remain so a single Russia Syria flight isn’t really out of context at all.

@notimagain True. The problem with people becoming more aware of FR24 (and other trackers) and only using them recently is that they don’t have a ‘normal’ to compare them to. I don’t usually look much beyond the UK and occasionally at the USA west coast so wouldn’t know what flights are usually like in Russia. A good example recently is people feeling worried that our Typhoons and F15s are up off the east coast and thinking we are being defended from something when it’s just a normal occurrence. Not their fault or anything, but unless you’ve been using trackers for a while then you could easily scare yourself silly needlessly.

Call me slow if you want but I've just discovered radarbox, I think I prefer it.

Couple of RAF jets to east of Bucharest - oddly made me feel calmer

@PeonyRose80

Couple of RAF jets to east of Bucharest - oddly made me feel calmer

Interesting one

if you run playback it looks like the fighters came out of Akrotiri (Cyprus) with an A330 tanker.

That screen snapshot was taken not long after the fighters made the move to separate and moved off ahead of the tanker (which is behind them on the same route in the image) The fighters are still in the thick of civilian traffic so (I’m guessing) that’s why they still had transponders on and we’re visible on flight radar.

Shortly thereafter the fighters turned their transponders off and disappeared off to do whatever they were going to do, if you carry on tracking the A330 it then went off onto to sit on towlines (racetracks),various, to the north of Bucharest.

This one is interesting.

UKR registered plane, went to Poland (not sure where it took off from) and landed in a place where there are 2 x US Airforce Black Hawks.

Now taken off again, doesn't say where it's heading (obvs not Ukraine).

Black Hawks aren't easily seen now as I think they've just landed at an airfield but they were where my red circle is.

@PeonyRose80

Couple of RAF jets to east of Bucharest - oddly made me feel calmer

I'm not really a plane geek but I bloody love the Typhoons.

I live near Farnborough Airport where we (pre-CV) have an air show every other year and they always make an appearance flying very low.

They're crazy loud and set every single car alarm off...

I’m new to flight radar! I was watching a us helicopter, us jet/aeroplane and Italian govt plane and the us jet has just disappeared - does this mean they have turned their radar off? They were at an airport in Poland I think