AIR PICTURE — CHAGRIN FALLS, OH — 2026-07-02
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Busy day — 1,208 contacts, 34% above the 7-day average, with a notable international contingent and several contacts that apparently misplaced their callsigns at altitude.
NOTABLE TRAFFIC
High-altitude corridor traffic was heavy throughout the day. The eastbound parade included UAL2798, UAL759, UAL1386, DAL2603, AAL1967, AAL148, and SWA107, all drilling east at FL330–390 in the 90–100° range. Westbound traffic equally robust with ACA549, DAL424, JBU993, and others stacked between FL340–390.
International visitors: British Airways contributed BAW120 and BAW220. KLM sent KLM248 and KLM686. Lufthansa's DHL subsidiary checked in with BOX394 and GEC8225. Turkish (THY181), Korean Air (KAL284, KAL081), Cathay Pacific (CPA844, CPA2093), Singapore Airlines (SIA22), Ethiopian (ETH552), and LOT Polish (LOT4) all transited overhead. Chagrin Falls briefly became a suburb of Newark Liberty.
Low-level general aviation: N972CC, N714ER, and KSF12 were all puttering around below 2,000 ft — standard local activity for a July afternoon.
ANOMALIES
Three unlabeled squawkers at altitude: ADA521, AA739D, and A526ED are all cruising FL340–370 with active Mode S but no flight ID broadcast. Two of them (ADA521 and AA739D) were at nearly identical positions — 41.535°N, 81.295–296°W — at the same altitude and heading. That's either a formation, a data hiccup, or someone running two planes on one schedule.
XAEFA [0D122A] at FL410 with an ICAO hex that falls in no known national allocation. Unknown origin, unknown operator. It's heading northeast and minding its business, but we're noting it anyway.
RCH4128 [AE0818] — military hex, "RCH" prefix (US Air Mobility Command), observed twice at FL300 and FL320. Somebody's hauling cargo for Uncle Sam.
BLITZ06 and SLICK46 both hold military hex codes. Callsigns like those don't belong to regional commuters.
RAX108 at 2,975 ft doing 216 knots. Fast down low. Watching.
PATTERN NOTES
Traffic ran well above average all day, finishing 34% over baseline — likely attributable to the July 4th holiday travel surge beginning a day early. Over 50 regular flights flagged as absent, though many may simply have shifted slots. Canadian traffic was unusually dense, suggesting strong cross-border holiday movement. Several Air Canada Jazz (CJT) and Chorus (JZA, ROU) frequencies were active throughout.
END OF DAILY AIR PICTURE