AIR PICTURE — CHAGRIN FALLS, OH — 2026-06-16
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Noticeably quiet day overhead — traffic running 39% below the 7-day average, with a smattering of anomalies to keep things interesting.
NOTABLE TRAFFIC
UAL2480 [A2CB9E] leads today's speed contest at 579 kts, eastbound at 39,000 ft — somebody has places to be. UPS609 [A4D9A7] and EDV5022 [A32814] are also moving briskly eastbound in the low 580s, suggesting favorable winds aloft on the eastbound corridors.
AFR59N [3949F4] and AFR57J [39CF06] — both French-registered, both eastbound in the 35,000–39,000 ft band — transited the region today. The anomaly system flagged both against a government/military prefix list. Air France regular operations; noted for completeness.
OSU27 [ACD9CE] checked in at a modest 6,050 ft, heading south at 141 kts. Ohio State keeping busy.
DAL1320 [A3323D] was observed at just 3,000 ft northbound at 185 kts — consistent with an approach into CLE.
ANOMALIES
Eleven contacts transmitted Mode S with no flight ID broadcast today — hexes A43E7F, A388AF, A77D89, AAF828, AC12D6, ACDBEE, A704F9, 0D0DC4, ABF949, A02681, and A54CD9. All at cruise altitudes between 23,000 and 39,000 ft. Routine squawking without callsign is not unheard of, but eleven in one day earns a raised eyebrow.
0D0DC4 is the notable outlier: ICAO hex falls outside all known national allocation ranges. No callsign. 31,000 ft. It's probably a database gap. Probably.
AE11F6 — US military hex range, no callsign, 34,000 ft. It didn't announce itself. We noticed anyway.
HBAL790 [ABF807] logged at 63,100 ft and again at 65,300 ft. High-altitude balloon or similar platform; well above commercial ceilings. Not a threat, just a resident of the stratosphere.
N560MR [A7280D] flagged low and fast: 2,600 ft at 200 kts. PXG453 [A57ED1] similarly: 2,075 ft at 260 kts. Both merit a second look.
PATTERN NOTES
Total contacts: 974 against a 7-day average of 1,609 — a 39% deficit. Numerous regular flights absent across all tracked hours, including UAL2612, DAL2736, SWA737, and a long tail of RPA and EDV regionals. No single obvious cause in the data; may warrant external inquiry. Canadian-registered traffic (Air Canada, Jazz, Routair, various GA) present in normal volumes. Three Saudi-registered KAL contacts appeared in the broader picture — unusual registration geography, no other flags.
END OF DAILY AIR PICTURE