AIR PICTURE — CHAGRIN FALLS, OH — 2026-05-24
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Unusually quiet day over the Falls — traffic running roughly 65% below the 7-day average, with 1,696 aircraft logged against a baseline of 4,799. Something is keeping planes on the ground, and nobody told us what.
NOTABLE TRAFFIC
The high-altitude lane was active despite the thin count. EVA032 (ICAO 89902F) transited at 37,000 ft on a 116° heading — notable for carrying an ICAO hex that falls outside all known national allocation ranges. It flew, it squawked, it remains unexplained. KOW860 (ABD096) checked in at 47,000 feet — above standard commercial ceilings — consistent with a large business jet or military platform that prefers not to share altitude with the commoners.
Two Air France callsigns — AFR377 and AFR6736 — both flagged on the interesting-callsign list and registered to France, were observed transiting the area at 25,200 ft and 32,675 ft respectively. Flagged, noted, filed.
Low-level activity produced several LOW_AND_FAST contacts worth a second look: N870B, EDV5335, AAL2808, SCX3050, ROU1917, ACA156, DAL1405, AVA254, ASA456, and others — all below 3,000 ft at speeds between 200–250 knots. Approach traffic and regional props account for most of this; a few bear watching.
ANOMALIES
- EVA032 [89902F] and EVA036 [8990E1]: two Eva Air callsigns, two unallocated hex codes. Make of that what you will. - LOT45 [48AE26]: Polish carrier operating on a Netherlands-registered ICAO hex, descending through 2,750 ft northeast of the area. Routine enough operationally, irregular on paper. - KAL257 and KAL284: Saudi Arabia-registered ICAO codes operating Korean Air callsigns. This is a leasing arrangement, presumably, not an alliance no one announced. - SIA22 [76CCE6] and SIA7977 [76CCC9]: Singapore Airlines callsigns carrying unallocated hex codes. Present and unresolved. - MSR995 [01013C]: EgyptAir callsign, unallocated hex, 2,825 ft, 201 knots. Low, fast, foreign, unidentified registration block. That's a full house.
PATTERN NOTES
Traffic volume has been declining steadily through the day, starting 99% below average in early hours and recovering only to 65% by day's end. The missing-regulars list is extensive — FedEx, UPS, Southwest, Delta, and United all showing significant gaps versus the prior week. No single explanation is evident from the picture alone. Canadian traffic (WestJet, Air Canada, Jazz) transited normally. The Canadian airspace corridor northeast of the area remained active throughout.
END OF DAILY AIR PICTURE