An aircraft with registration SP-FPB began measurement flights over Warsaw on Thursday at 21:38 to detect potential leaks in the heating infrastructure.
Measurement Mission Over Warsaw
On Thursday, February 26, at 21:38, an aircraft with registration SP-FPB took off from Warsaw-Modlin Airport, beginning a several-hour measurement flight over Warsaw. The flight is being carried out at the request of Veolia, which operates Warsaw’s heating network, and serves to detect potential infrastructure leaks.
After departing from Modlin, the aircraft began planned flights along designated routes over Warsaw. According to the plan, the flight will continue for the next few hours and include a series of repeat flights typical of measurement missions, where collecting data from specific city areas is crucial.
Purpose and Scope of the Flights
The measurement flight is part of actions aimed at locating possible leaks in the heating network. These types of flights are one method of obtaining data that can then be used to identify locations requiring field verification and further technical work.
Today’s mission is a continuation of the flight that began in February 2025. At that time, measurements covered the northern and eastern parts of Warsaw. The current flight is planned over the western and southern parts, indicating a change in the operational area compared to the earlier measurement phase.
Coordination Requirements
The flight is organizationally more demanding because measurements are also to be conducted in an area requiring strict coordination with Chopin Airport. In practice, this means adjusting the mission’s route to air traffic rules in controlled airspace and conditions allowing for safe execution of the planned flights.
Weather Conditions for Mission
For such a flight to take place, specific meteorological conditions must be met. A temperature below 0°C is required, and on the preceding day, the temperature must not exceed a set threshold. Additionally, the flight cannot be conducted with existing snow cover, below-ceiling cloud cover, precipitation, or fog. Meeting these criteria is a condition for conducting measurements according to the mission assumptions.
During measurement flights, the aircraft may repeatedly fly over the same areas, which can be visible on air traffic maps as circling over the city. Today’s SP-FPB flight is part of planned actions covering another part of Warsaw as part of the continuation of measurements that began in 2025.
