Seeing Double on RDU Approach

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 A couple nights ago I had our Golden Retriever wonder-dog, Biskit, outside around 10pm.

Full confession - I've become a little addicted to the Flightradar24 app. As I said in another post, I think this aviation interest is fast becoming a new hobby.

So on this clear North Carolina evening while Biskit was busy doing what Biskit does, I pulled up the app to see what was what in the 'hood - there was a plane not too far away, though I couldn't hear it. But what caught my eye wasn't just that the plane was rolling in to RDU. It was that there were TWO planes on landing approach at the same time - parallel, not stacked.



When I checked their stats on FR24, I was surprised to see they were flying at similar speeds and similar altitudes.

I know RDU has two runways, but this was a new experience to see happening in real time.

My cell phone screen showed them as incredibly close. But of course, the app is displaying icons, not relative-sized images of the airliners, and due to app and signal delays, they probably weren't as close as they seemed. And, based on a lot of the squawk conversations that have infiltrated my social media feeds, I know Air Traffic Control had it - well... under control.

And while my tax-and-analytical brain was comparing the airspeed and altitude of the two jets, my "Looking Up" brain just said "Yowza!"


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