# Miami International AIrport (KMIA)



## FastTrax (Aug 27, 2021)

www.miami-airport.com

www.facebook.com/IflyMIA/

www.twitter.com/iflymia/status/1410962009311662086

www.instagram.com/iflymia/?hl=en

www.indeed.com/cmp/Miami-International-Airport/reviews

www.liveatc.net/search/?icao=KMIA

www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?aid=3086

www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=9185

www.airnav.com/airport/KMIA

www.flightaware.com/live/airport/KMIA

www.skyvector.com/?id=KMIA&zoom-2

https://webvids.miami-airport.com/webfids/

www.miamiairportcam.com

www.airportix.com/mia/

www.cbp.gov/contact/ports/miami-international-airport

www.miami-airport.com/airport-security.asp

www.uber.com/global/en/airports/mia/

www.lyft.com/rider/airports/mia

www.globalair.com/airport/apt.weather.aspx?aptcode=MIA

www.tri-rail.com/stations/miami-airport

www.airport-mia.com/metrorail.php

www.miami-airport.com/airport_fire.asp

www.miami-airport.com/airport_police.asp

www.6abc.com/miami-international-airport-flight-american-airlines-video/10551044/

www.miahotel.com/privacy-policy?#paracookiepolicy

https://news.miami-airport.com

www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/3246

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_International_Airport


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## oldman (Aug 27, 2021)

I really enjoyed my fights in and out of MIA. Always tried to get routed over the Glades. I was in the air over MIA back in '96 when the ValuJet went down in the Everglades. They were taking off and we were in our final. The planes in the vicinity were asked if anyone could see a fireball or an oil slick. I doubt if we would have been able to see either one as we were in two different flight paths over the airport, but we did look and I think we also asked the passengers to take a look. 

Thanks for the post.


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## oldman (Aug 28, 2021)

MIA has four (4) runways. It is a very large airport and I would guess is one of the ten largest in the U.S. MIA is a large hub, mainly for freighters, which are mostly long haul flights, like international. UPS and FedEx have huge warehouses situated around the airport. I would often talk with some of the long haul pilots that may have either just landed from a 12-14 hour flight or was preparing to do so. Those men and women make big money. It takes a special type of pilot to be able to live that lifestyle.

MIA is about 15 miles from the city. The downtown area is like any other big city. They do have their problems and crime is a major factor for them with drugs being the number one problem. But, when you leave the city and get out to the beach, it’s like day and night. Very beautiful area and the sunbathers make good people watching. A lot of the rich and famous can be seen there, along with Ft. Lauderdale Beach and West Palm Beach. Multi million dollar homes border the shoreline, along with the many hotels. And the boats are something to be envious of, if you are a water person, which my wife and I still are.


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## FastTrax (Aug 28, 2021)

oldman said:


> MIA has four (4) runways. It is a very large airport and I would guess is one of the ten largest in the U.S. MIA is a large hub, mainly for freighters, which are mostly long haul flights, like international. UPS and FedEx have huge warehouses situated around the airport. I would often talk with some of the long haul pilots that may have either just landed from a 12-14 hour flight or was preparing to do so. Those men and women make big money. It takes a special type of pilot to be able to live that lifestyle.
> 
> MIA is about 15 miles from the city. The downtown area is like any other big city. They do have their problems and crime is a major factor for them with drugs being the number one problem. But, when you leave the city and get out to the beach, it’s like day and night. Very beautiful area and the sunbathers make good people watching. A lot of the rich and famous can be seen there, along with Ft. Lauderdale Beach and West Palm Beach. Multi million dollar homes border the shoreline, along with the many hotels. And the boats are something to be envious of, if you are a water person, which my wife and I still are.



As far as I am concerned Miami International is way too congested and busy for planespotting. I rode Tri-Rail to the new Miami International Airport Station which is fast becoming just as busy as the Airport terminal itself. I think Metrorail goes there too. AMTRAK and Brightline  made it quite clear that they had zero interest in relocating their Southern terminals.


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## oldman (Aug 30, 2021)

FastTrax said:


> As far as I am concerned Miami International is way too congested and busy for planespotting. I rode Tri-Rail to the new Miami International Airport Station which is fast becoming just as busy as the Airport terminal itself. I think Metrorail goes there too. AMTRAK and Brightline  made it quite clear that they had zero interest in relocating their Southern terminals.


If you want to see a more modern airport, check out TPA (Tampa). They did a $2.3 billion expansion and upgrade. I never flew into TPA as a pilot, but have made and still do make several trips in as a passenger. Their rental car pickup/drop off system is really unique. They have also added one new concourse and new gates. The only problem with TPA that I can assess is the afternoon summer thunderstorms. They have caused delays and backed up flights.


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## oldman (Sep 1, 2021)

I am flying down to Tampa in a few weeks as a passenger, of course and am looking forward to it.


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## FastTrax (Sep 1, 2021)

oldman said:


> If you want to see a more modern airport, check out TPA (Tampa). They did a $2.3 billion expansion and upgrade. I never flew into TPA as a pilot, but have made and still do make several trips in as a passenger. Their rental car pickup/drop off system is really unique. They have also added one new concourse and new gates. The only problem with TPA that I can assess is the afternoon summer thunderstorms. They have caused delays and backed up flights.



I guess that may be why MacDill AFB is aptly named Lightning Ops. On another note the very fist time I was at Macdill with CAP I found out that even military flights from out of country even CentCom who is based there have to submit to Custom's checks. Sounds like a reverse pecking order thing.


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## oldman (Sep 27, 2021)

FastTrax said:


> I guess that may be why MacDill AFB is aptly named Lightning Ops. On another note the very fist time I was at Macdill with CAP I found out that even military flights from out of country even CentCom who is based there have to submit to Custom's checks. Sounds like a reverse pecking order thing.


What's up with that? Looking for drugs? I remember back in the late '90's when personnel at AA (American Airlines) were sneaking in drugs through their Miami connections at the airport. The FAA had been considering making all flights through Miami, Phoenix, Dallas and a few other airports to make all airlines' personnel, both ground crews and flight crews go through a check for drug possession, including doing body cavity searches, but then found out that no judge would give them a warrant to carry out the searches. That was good news for the rest of us.


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## FastTrax (Sep 27, 2021)

oldman said:


> What's up with that? Looking for drugs? I remember back in the late '90's when personnel at AA (American Airlines) were sneaking in drugs through their Miami connections at the airport. The FAA had been considering making all flights through Miami, Phoenix, Dallas and a few other airports to make all airlines' personnel, both ground crews and flight crews go through a check for drug possession, including doing body cavity searches, but then found out that no judge would give them a warrant to carry out the searches. That was good news for the rest of us.



There has to be something regarding entry and exit policy that U.S. Customs enforces. I've also seen on the GOAA Comm's Office cameras DOD agents entering Orlando International Airport for foreign flights have to be cleared by U.S. Customs and OPD before going on  the monorail. This was before TSA was incepted in November 2001 when Wackenhut Security still had the contract.


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## oldman (Oct 1, 2021)

I was paging through an old log when I stopped on a page about a trip from Seattle down to Dallas in late January, 1988. I had the controls for takeoff and while taxing out to the runway, my "tiller" stopped working and I had no steering control. I had to decide if I should call maintenance out to the taxiway and have it fixed or allow the F/O to finish the taxi to the runway and have it fixed at the other end when I arrived into Dallas. 

I advised the ground controller of the problem and he asked me if I wanted maintenance. I decided to go on to Dallas and get the problem resolved there. Just as the F/O is turning onto the runway, her "tiller" stops working. (Coincidental? I guess, but how does that happen?) So now we don't have a choice. We have to get it fixed. United maintenance showed up within minutes, but he didn't have the parts necessary to fix the problem. Long story short, there were no spare parts available, but luckily, there was another 757 parked in maintenance, so he robbed what he needed to fix our plane and get us going. 

When we arrived into Dallas, maintenance was waiting for us at the gate. The maintenance mechanic told us that the mechanic put a part on our tillers from a 757-2 and we were flying a -3. Even though the parts looked identical, there is one main difference. The size of the mounting holes are bigger. The mechanic in Dallas told us that the bolts holding the tiller together could have pulled through the bolts when we landed and not allowed us to steer properly. Landing at about 185 mph and not having any steering control could have gave us dire consequences. I was feeling lucky that day.


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## Been There (Oct 3, 2021)

Hey oldman, I once flew from Pensacola to San Diego with my Flight Trainer in the rear seat, which is nearly 2000 miles. We were ordered to sit down on the Nimitz, but it had already left to return to Bremerton. We were ordered to land at the old Fightertown in Miramar, which at the time was being used for repair and training until it became a dungeon for the Marines and used to land helicopters and such. After being strapped into the very tight cockpit for almost 3 hours, I could hardly feel my legs when I climbed out of my Rhino. My flight trainer, who was older than me, had his problems getting out.


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## oldman (Oct 4, 2021)

Been There said:


> Hey oldman, I once flew from Pensacola to San Diego with my Flight Trainer in the rear seat, which is nearly 2000 miles. We were ordered to sit down on the Nimitz, but it had already left to return to Bremerton. We were ordered to land at the old Fightertown in Miramar, which at the time was being used for repair and training until it became a dungeon for the Marines and used to land helicopters and such. After being strapped into the very tight cockpit for almost 3 hours, I could hardly feel my legs when I climbed out of my Rhino. My flight trainer, who was older than me, had his problems getting out.


I never flew military. In my cockpits, they were all mostly very comfortable. All the planes I flew had sheepskin seat covers. You guys fly much faster than passenger jets. One thing that always bothered me with military jets. Military planes use a higher radio frequency and on several occasions, I was squelched on by nearby military aircraft and even a few times, I had issues trying to connect with an airport’s ILS when preparing for landing. Isn’t there a fix for this?


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## Alligatorob (Oct 4, 2021)

oldman said:


> The only problem with TPA that I can assess is the afternoon summer thunderstorms.


“Sticks of Fire” — the origins of Tampa Bay’s historic name: _High concentrations of lightning in the region led the native Calusa peoples to call it “Tanpa,” meaning “Sticks of Fire.”_ https://thetampabay100.com/history/...the-origins-of-tampa-bays-historic-name/17110

Growing up just across the Bay in Dunedin my father, an electrical engineer, used to say there was more lighting strike damage in the Tampa area than anywhere in the US.


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## jerry old (Oct 4, 2021)

Let me get this right, you think it is perfectly safe to crawl into an aluminum  envelope which may be piloted
by a crazy person,
a drunk person or
a terrorist.

I've heard about airplanes falling out of the sky, once I'm inside this envelope there is no way to get out.

My only safe mechanism is fervert prayer

Don't know Trac, does does not  sound like it will ever catch on.
True, most of us flew paper airplanes in school, but we didn't try to crawl into them and fly.


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## FastTrax (Oct 5, 2021)

jerry old said:


> Let me get this right, you think it is perfectly safe to crawl into an aluminum  envelope which may be piloted
> by a crazy person,
> a drunk person or
> a terrorist.
> ...



I once took a flight in a Cessna 152 at a CAP Composite Squadron on Long Island. Also one at Orlando Executive Airport, no biggie. Airliners were more fun, I loved departures, what a rush especially if you are just aft of the engines when they spool up at takeoff. Once at cruising altitude 35k give or take a yard or two was Heaven on Earth. Arrivals were a little unnerving at times especially in snowy weather. 9/11/2001 punched my ticket for air travel and that was all she wrote. On a more somber note I see Youtube has allowed the posting of airline flight deck audio of planes crashing. I didn't think the NTSB would allow that if that is their domain. In deference to oldman having been an airline pilot I am not going to post them here as they are extremely graphic in nature and disturbing to say the least, besides they are readily available for viewing on Youtube.


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## jerry old (Oct 5, 2021)

Strongly agree Trac, don't see any attraction about watching people die.

They tell me, you can see terrorist beheading Americans on the web.
Opinion: I would be happy to put several 30:06 rounds in the  American butts that watch these videos.


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## FastTrax (Oct 6, 2021)

jerry old said:


> Strongly agree Trac, don't see any attraction about watching people die.
> 
> They tell me, you can see terrorist beheading Americans on the web.
> Opinion: I would be happy to put several 30:06 rounds in the  American butts that watch these videos.



The day when morbidly graphic images, audio and videos became public domain on platforms like Youtube, Dailymotion and bestgore, myspace, facebook, twitter, Instagram, tik tok, yada yada yada and on and on I knew decency via social media was gone forever. Correct me if I am wrong but the very first graphic video on the internet was the stomach emptying video of Nicholas Bergman being beheaded. If nothing else, sensationalism sells. Shame.


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## oldman (Oct 6, 2021)

I knew a few pilots who took the “deep six.” There are certain “must do’s and dont’s” when you have the controls. I never had what most call a close call. Never took chances and always followed the guidelines. If it meant being late to be safe, so-be-it. It if meant diverting to be safe, then so-be-it. Most pilots turn on the autopilot at 1500, but I liked to steer it to the top, meaning our cruising altitude. As for listening to the engines spool, I did too, especially if they were Rolls Royce engines. When climbing out, I preferred to step climb to keep from stressing the engines. That lessens the chance of a flameout. If an engine flames out and the extinguisher is discharged, the engine cannot be restarted.

Years back, a Qantas airline flying over the Pacific (I believe) had flown over or near a volcano. The volcanic ash clogged all 4 engines causing them to flame out. The pilots did not activate the extinguishers on any of the engines. They tried to restart several times to no avail. Finally, after several attempts, the engines came back on, one at a time. The ash had solidified on the engine’s vanes and that caused the engines to shutdown. Once they had entered a lower altitude, the solidified ash broke off of the vanes. This allowed the engines to be restarted. The plane had descended several thousand feet toward the ocean before the restart. This flight crew, including the flight attendants did a wonderful job of keeping calm and applying their training. BTW, the engines were………Rolls Royce, my favorite.

Thanks to those that read this post.


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## FastTrax (Oct 6, 2021)

oldman said:


> I knew a few pilots who took the “deep six.” There are certain “must do’s and dont’s” when you have the controls. I never had what most call a close call. Never took chances and always followed the guidelines. If it meant being late to be safe, so-be-it. It if meant diverting to be safe, then so-be-it. Most pilots turn on the autopilot at 1500, but I liked to steer it to the top, meaning our cruising altitude. As for listening to the engines spool, I did too, especially if they were Rolls Royce engines. When climbing out, I preferred to step climb to keep from stressing the engines. That lessens the chance of a flameout. If an engine flames out and the extinguisher is discharged, the engine cannot be restarted.
> 
> Years back, a Qantas airline flying over the Pacific (I believe) had flown over or near a volcano. The volcanic ash clogged all 4 engines causing them to flame out. The pilots did not activate the extinguishers on any of the engines. They tried to restart several times to no avail. Finally, after several attempts, the engines came back on, one at a time. The ash had solidified on the engine’s vanes and that caused the engines to shutdown. Once they had entered a lower altitude, the solidified ash broke off of the vanes. This allowed the engines to be restarted. The plane had descended several thousand feet toward the ocean before the restart. This flight crew, including the flight attendants did a wonderful job of keeping calm and applying their training. BTW, the engines were………Rolls Royce, my favorite.
> 
> Thanks to those that read this post.



No thank you om. Anything you put to words is an adventure. IMHO your words in book form would be best sellers.


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## oldman (Oct 7, 2021)

FastTrax said:


> No thank you om. Anything you put to words is an adventure. IMHO your words in book form would be best sellers.


The point that I was trying to make was that if anyone is ever on a plane and the engine flames out, don't panic. The engine can be restarted right up to about 30 seconds prior to impact. It takes about 10 seconds for most engines to spool up and then another 20-30 seconds or so for the plane to react to the controls being used to climb out.  

Spooling is terminology used in aviation to mean reaching full thrust. We need full thrust to climb out. There are instruments inside the cockpit that are monitored by the non-flying pilot and his job is to monitor those gauges to make sure that each engine is maintaining enough thrust to do what is required at the moment, regardless if it is to climb, turn (bank) or descend. We don't need much thrust to descend, in reality next to nothing, but if the pilot is descending and banking (turning), he needs to keep the nose in an upright position or the correct term used in aviation is to keep the nose in an "upright attitude." It is also important to not allow the plane to yaw while turning. Yawing is when the plane starts to roll in one direction and then suddenly rolls in the opposite direction. There have been accidents where inexperienced pilots have allowed this to happen and the pilot ends with loss of control and that's when all hell breaks loose throughout the plane, when in most cases, all the pilot has to do is to turn on the Autopilot and allow it to bring the plane back to normalcy. (In most situations.)


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## Alligatorob (Oct 7, 2021)

oldman said:


> Years back, a Qantas airline flying over the Pacific (I believe) had flown over or near a volcano.


Interesting story.  

I flew (passenger on commercial flights) from Jackson, Wyoming to Denver and then on to Houston the morning Mt St Helens erupted.  We could see the ash in the air and I understand both the Jackson and Denver airports shutdown right after my takeoffs.  Had to have been a lot less dust than the Qantas flight ran into.


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## oldman (Oct 7, 2021)

Glad you enjoyed the story. 

Yeah, I agree. Always avoid a volcano in the air or on the ground. I saw the movie on TV with Art Carney. Good movie as it did keep my attention. First I ever heard of volcanic ash collecting on jet engine’s fan vanes.


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