AIR PICTURE — CHAGRIN FALLS, OH — 2026-10-05
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Dramatically quiet day over the Falls — traffic running 63% below the seven-day average, with a parade of missing regulars and a small collection of contacts that warrant a second look.
NOTABLE TRAFFIC
High-altitude gallery: KOW513 [A66D5E] topped the stack at 47,000 ft, above standard commercial ceilings — consistent with a large business jet or something that prefers not to discuss its altitude. BAW220 checked in close behind at 40,975 ft.
Transatlantic visitors: ANA160, QTR22B, and BAW120/BAW8K transited the area — All Nippon, Qatar, and two British Airways frames moving purposefully eastbound or westbound at altitude. APZ135 flew through on a Saudi Arabian registration at 38,975 ft.
Low-level activity: Six contacts flagged LOW_AND_FAST during the day — N715CB, UAL457, AAL3165, AAL2887, JIA5495, N6818X, N97SJ, ASA262, JIA5585, and SKW5584 all turned up below 3,000 ft at speeds between 200–240 kts. That is a lot of aircraft having a lot of trouble with altitude. CLE approaches are the most charitable explanation.
ANOMALIES
Unknown ICAO codes: VTM356 [0D0B20], ANA160 [869232], QTR22B [06A120], and several others carry hex codes outside any recognized national allocation. They flew perfectly normally; their paperwork did not.
Military contact: C6559 [AE2691] and CNV4787 [AE571A] both squawked from the US military hex range. No other details in the data. They were here, and then they were not.
Foreign registrations: Canadian, British, German, Spanish, Saudi, and Dutch-registered frames all transited today — a more international crowd than Chagrin Falls typically attracts.
PATTERN NOTES
Today's 620 contacts represents a severe departure from the 1,677-aircraft seven-day average — a 63% shortfall. Missing regulars number in the hundreds across all hours, spanning every major carrier: Delta, United, American, Southwest, Republic, and SkyWest all show significant gaps. Whether this reflects a system-wide data dropout, a ground stop event, or the rapture selectively targeting regional jets is not yet determined.
KSF training flights (KSF33, KSF38, KSF42) did appear at low altitudes — someone is still out there flying circles, as God intended.
END OF DAILY AIR PICTURE