This was how I capped off a 3hr flight last night, returning to northern NJ. The plan was to land at Lincoln Park (N07) where the forecast was 1000 few, 2000 overcast. My alternate was Caldwell (KCDW)
This was the weather during the initial arrival, KCDW 270153Z 00000KT 1 1/4SM BR OVC004 12/12 A2961
So, Lincoln Park was history, I didn't even bother trying, diverted to Caldwell.
While I was on final for the LOC RWY 22 approach, tower informed me of the updated weather, which was now:
KCDW 270200Z 00000KT 1SM BR OVC002 12/12 A2962
I went missed, and attempted to divert to Morristown, CDW went on to become:
KCDW 270212Z 00000KT 3/4SM BR OVC002 12/12 A2962
KCDW 270253Z 00000KT 1/2SM FG VV002 12/12 A2961
Morristown had 1 mile and 200 overcast, which is no picnic, but worth a shot. I was assigned an RNAV approach. Knowing I couldn't shoot it to LPV minimums (non-WAAS GPS), I requested the ILS 23. It was out of service. Awesome. So, off it was, then, to Teterboro, which was calling:
KTEB 270151Z 00000KT 3SM BR OVC006 13/11 A2960
...and then later became
KTEB 270251Z 23005KT 3SM BR OVC004 13/11 A2959
The edited audio is attached, covering:
- the diversion to CDW, shooting the LOC RWY 22 there, going missed, attempting diversion to MMU, then to TEB. Most of the other aircraft interactions are removed, but I left some of them in place to give an idea of how busy it was. The full audio is available (for a while, at least) here:
http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kewr/KEWR-Final-Apr-27-2012-0130Z.mp3 (about 25 mins into it)
http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kewr/KEWR-Final-Apr-27-2012-0200Z.mp3 (all of it)
http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kewr/KEWR-Final-Apr-27-2012-0230Z.mp3 (first few mins)
I was struggling to get the ATIS each time because the radio was so busy. I had pre-loaded charts for the N07 and CDW (my alternate) but setting up for TEB was a lot of work.
The cloud were so thick at 2000ft that not only did I have my strobes off (that's not uncommon), but my position lights and landing light were bright enough to cause a distraction (have never had that happen before).
I was working at capacity for and extended period of time after a 2hr 30min 600 mile trip and was very happy to get on the ground.
I felt bad pushing back on the controller a few times when I wasn't able to get weather and wasn't yet prepared to fly the approach, but I felt there was little choice, and I refused to shoot that ILS at TEB until I was fully prepared to do it.
Here's the flightaware log:
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N360JH/history/20120426/2248Z/K24/N07