Hello all! I was tracking flights on FR24 and noticed that Alaska was flying a 737-800 from SEA-BZE and was wondering what they would be flying it there for as they do not serve that country at all. I had looked up the flight number on FlightAware and it too showed it to be flying that way. Anyone have any answers? Flight number is AS9808 and Reg. is N570AS.

That’s the Cars/Disneyland livery.

IIRC, 9000 series flights are charters or special sections.

I was on an AS 9000 series flight years ago when a mechanical issue forced the delay for over 24 hours. They flew in a different airplane to get pax home sooner, and the original equipment still had to be flown out.

Last night's AS252 SEA-CUN diverted into BZE. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/ASA ... /KSEA/MZBZ

I assume this is some sort of rescue flight to pick up stranded passengers.

alggag wrote:

Last night's AS252 SEA-CUN diverted into BZE. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/ASA ... /KSEA/MZBZ

I assume this is some sort of rescue flight to pick up stranded passengers.

This would explain it.

What's wrong with in Cancun or not make it to Cozumel closer? That's pressure on pilots worry about fuel too low too far to Belize! Crazy!

What's going on in Cancun?

Q

Q wrote:

What's wrong with in Cancun or not make it to Cozumel closer? That's pressure on pilots worry about fuel too low too far to Belize! Crazy!

What's going on in Cancun?

Q

Weather

MMUN 272244Z 33012KT 4SM RA BKN010 OVC070 18/17 A2989 RMK 60025 8/77/ INTMT -RA
MMUN 272146Z 33011G23KT 2SM RA BKN008 OVC070 19/18 A2984 RMK 60035 8/77/ RA INTMT
MMUN 272132Z 35015KT 2SM RA BKN007 OVC070 19/18 A2979 RMK 8/77/ RAB28
MMUN 272112Z 32008G30KT 4SM RA BKN008 BKN070 BKN300 22/19 A2977 RMK 8/778 RA NW

Conzumel was even worst off. I'm pretty sure they knew what they were doing going to BZE.

Weather was horrendous in CUN yesteday evening with 50+ mph gusts. Was marginally better in BZE. BZE saw 7 diverts, even CTM saw some (Mexican domestic to CUN). Given the length of the SEA CUN flight, there was probably not much chance to hold over CUN to see if it cleared, and the Divert was taken to refuel.

I believe BZE also so UA, WS and WN diverts.

Q wrote:

What's wrong with in Cancun or not make it to Cozumel closer? That's pressure on pilots worry about fuel too low too far to Belize! Crazy!

What's going on in Cancun?

Q

If the FlightAware track is accurate then it looks like they at least considered CZM before heading to BZE.

BZE isnt that big of an airport or hotel room population, I wonder what happened to all the passengers. Or, how soon before the bloggers do more "I had to spend 15 hours illegally in a plane..." posts...

seriously though, Belize City does not have many hotel rooms. I think the largest hotel is the Radisson Ft George and thats like 94 rooms...

usxguy wrote:

BZE isnt that big of an airport or hotel room population, I wonder what happened to all the passengers. Or, how soon before the bloggers do more "I had to spend 15 hours illegally in a plane..." posts...

seriously though, Belize City does not have many hotel rooms. I think the largest hotel is the Radisson Ft George and thats like 94 rooms...

I might be totally out of order here, but putting my Professor of History hat on...

Wikipedia wrote:

It became a British colony in 1840, known as British Honduras, and a Crown colony in 1862.
Independence was achieved from the United Kingdom on 21 September 1981.
Belize has a diverse society, composed of many cultures and languages that reflect its rich history.
English is the official language of Belize,
Over half the population is multilingual, with Spanish being the second most common spoken language.
Belize is a Commonwealth realm, with Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch and head of state

That sounds to me like non-Spanish speaking pax on an AS flight might feel right at home, even if things are a tad crowded.
Regarding the lack of large hotels, maybe even a basic B&B would offer you a "Full English" … breakfast

No, I'm not saying Mexico is a bad place, but Belize appears to be a very attractive substitute.

Anybody with better local knowledge is more than welcome to shoot me down.

p.s. Huge thx to the OP for spelling out BZE for us all; we could do with much more of that. IMO

Redwood839 wrote:

Q wrote:

What's wrong with in Cancun or not make it to Cozumel closer? That's pressure on pilots worry about fuel too low too far to Belize! Crazy!

What's going on in Cancun?

Q

Weather

MMUN 272244Z 33012KT 4SM RA BKN010 OVC070 18/17 A2989 RMK 60025 8/77/ INTMT -RA
MMUN 272146Z 33011G23KT 2SM RA BKN008 OVC070 19/18 A2984 RMK 60035 8/77/ RA INTMT
MMUN 272132Z 35015KT 2SM RA BKN007 OVC070 19/18 A2979 RMK 8/77/ RAB28
MMUN 272112Z 32008G30KT 4SM RA BKN008 BKN070 BKN300 22/19 A2977 RMK 8/778 RA NW

Conzumel was even worst off. I'm pretty sure they knew what they were doing going to BZE.

That weather is not bad. Does CUN not have an ILS?

a quick check indicates that the AS plane was the only BZE divert that did not make it to the intended destination (CUN) last night. I would assume the crew timed out. I follow 9N (Belize based airline) on FB and they posted a photo of the plane this morning.

As for hotels....Belize City can more than accommodate the pax. While the tourist resort areas are not in Belize City, I am sure that they at least got a bed to sleep in last night.

I guess the big question is how will they get the plane / pax crew in. Are the sending in a replacement plane or are they ferry in a replacement crew?

SheikhDjibouti wrote:

No, I'm not saying Mexico is a bad place, but Belize appears to be a very attractive substitute.

Anybody with better local knowledge is more than welcome to shoot me down.

p.s. Huge thx to the OP for spelling out BZE for us all; we could do with much more of that. IMO

Belize City has a 150 room Radisson, a 100 room best western and a 100 room Ramada plus a number of guest houses etc. I am sure they were fine.
As for the English breakfast, these days it is more likely to be a Spanish style breakfast with beans, tortillas etc.

LightChop2Chop wrote:

a quick check indicates that the AS plane was the only BZE divert that did not make it to the intended destination (CUN) last night. I would assume the crew timed out. I follow 9N (Belize based airline) on FB and they posted a photo of the plane this morning.

As for hotels....Belize City can more than accommodate the pax. While the tourist resort areas are not in Belize City, I am sure that they at least got a bed to sleep in last night.

I guess the big question is how will they get the plane / pax crew in. Are the sending in a replacement plane or are they ferry in a replacement crew?

Its possible the original plane went tech... which is why they are sending in another plane. Otherwise - the original crew would have been able to continue this morning to CUN after adequate rest.

The flight diverted due to MX issues; AS contracts with a vendor to handle reaccoms in stations they don't fly to and they took care of everyone in BZE.

Now, I see Facebook shows one of the tour medium boat is trying to dock but too windy and waving too high. The boat couldn't dock so they left. It was on Cozumel island. I realized bad weather up there in Cancun and Cozumel.

Q

Extra section F9808 departed SEA at 0114 and arrived BZE at 0836, turning into F9232 BZECUN, which departed at 1111 and arrived CUN at 1313. Mechanics and crew are in BZE and will reposition N518AS to SEA tomorrow at 1100.

A/C N570AS is now operating F9241 CUNSEA departing 1435 and should arrive in SEA at 1830.

Considering the weather is absolutely gorgeous in BZE today, I am sure the mechanics would much rather be working there than in say Goose Bay!

EA CO AS, any reason why they didn't divert to MMMD (Merida), which as a 10,000 foot runway? Might have been a hair easier getting crews/passengers shuffled. Merida does have customs, so curious, outside of teasing all the Belizeans and tourism officials

usxguy wrote:

EA CO AS, any reason why they didn't divert to MMMD (Merida), which as a 10,000 foot runway? Might have been a hair easier getting crews/passengers shuffled. Merida does have customs, so curious, outside of teasing all the Belizeans and tourism officials

After working the problem near CUN, at the time the need for a diversion was decided upon by SOC, the aircraft was near CZM and it was easier to get to BZE rather than fighting through moving weather to head to MID.

EA CO AS wrote:

usxguy wrote:

EA CO AS, any reason why they didn't divert to MMMD (Merida), which as a 10,000 foot runway? Might have been a hair easier getting crews/passengers shuffled. Merida does have customs, so curious, outside of teasing all the Belizeans and tourism officials

After working the problem near CUN, at the time the need for a diversion was decided upon by SOC, the aircraft was near CZM and it was easier to get to BZE rather than fighting through moving weather to head to MID.

Unless there were some folks of odd nationalities on board, it probably didn't make much difference from a passenger perspective. While not a tourist mecca, BZE, like the rest of Belize, is English-speaking and relatively safe.

Cubsrule wrote:

Unless there were some folks of odd nationalities on board, it probably didn't make much difference from a passenger perspective. While not a tourist mecca, BZE, like the rest of Belize, is English-speaking and relatively safe.

The airport itself is safe (although there's not much out by the airport), but Belize City is not so much. It's fine out on the point by the Radisson but the south side of Belize City should be avoided by tourists.

Cubsrule wrote:

Unless there were some folks of odd nationalities on board, it probably didn't make much difference from a passenger perspective. While not a tourist mecca, BZE, like the rest of Belize, is English-speaking and relatively safe.

I've been going to Belize for years and have done work with one of the local carriers, but I was thinking more of Merida being linked to Cancun - its maybe a 4 hour drive via bus to Cancun. Its also a very beautiful city. Can't remember much about the airport (flew out when I was 15, on an Aerocaribe Fokker 27 to CUN).

But EA CO AS's explanation makes sense, if they were already on that side of a storm, makes sense.

usxguy wrote:

Cubsrule wrote:

Unless there were some folks of odd nationalities on board, it probably didn't make much difference from a passenger perspective. While not a tourist mecca, BZE, like the rest of Belize, is English-speaking and relatively safe.

I've been going to Belize for years and have done work with one of the local carriers, but I was thinking more of Merida being linked to Cancun - its maybe a 4 hour drive via bus to Cancun. Its also a very beautiful city. Can't remember much about the airport (flew out when I was 15, on an Aerocaribe Fokker 27 to CUN).

But EA CO AS's explanation makes sense, if they were already on that side of a storm, makes sense.

That’s a fair point, though the finer points of Merida (which, as you say, is a really cool city) would likely be lost on most Cancun travelers.

ScottB wrote:

Cubsrule wrote:

Unless there were some folks of odd nationalities on board, it probably didn't make much difference from a passenger perspective. While not a tourist mecca, BZE, like the rest of Belize, is English-speaking and relatively safe.

The airport itself is safe (although there's not much out by the airport), but Belize City is not so much. It's fine out on the point by the Radisson but the south side of Belize City should be avoided by tourists.

To be fair to the folks in BZE, the are parts of every city that should be avoided.

Had a coworker on this flight. Pilot mentioned “a problem with the wing” after a missed approach to CUN. He posted pics of maintenance folks on ladders at the port winglet while deplaning at BZE. He said it was by far the worst turbulence he had ever experienced, and he’s a very frequent flyer.
AS put them all up in hotels overnight and he has a Belize stamp in the passport.