Flying Circles in The Sky: Thick Tule Fog Forces Fresno Flight Diversions, Cancellations

Nov. 23—Foggy weather wreaked havoc with some airline flights that were scheduled to fly into Fresno on Monday morning and Monday night, including four international flights full of passengers coming to the Valley from Mexico.

The National Weather Service reported that visibility at Fresno Yosemite International Airport fell to almost one-tenth of a mile early Monday morning through almost noon. After clearing to cloudy and hazy in the afternoon, the thick tule fog settled back in Monday night, sending visibility to less than a quarter-mile by 8 p.m. and back down to about one-tenth of a mile through mid-morning on Tuesday.

A few inbound flights to Fresno did manage to beat the fogbound hours. A few others made low-altitude approaches toward the runway before abandoning their landing efforts and diverting to other California airports.

And at least two pilots opted to return to their original airports without even trying to make a landing approach, according to flight tracking data from the website FlightAware.com.

The schedule havoc caused by the dense fog comes as airports and airlines brace for the Thanksgiving holiday period, traditionally one the busiest times of the year for travel.

The first flight affected Monday was Volaris 952, a 144-seat Airbus A319 jet that left Guadalajara, Mexico shortly after midnight Central Standard Time ( 10 p.m. Pacific on Sunday) with arrival in Fresno scheduled for about 2 a.m. Pacific time. That jet flew as far north as the Grapevine at the southern and of the San Joaquin Valley before turning south to instead land at Los Angeles International Airport at 1:40 a.m.

Three more flights from Guadalajara — two on Volaris, one on Aeromexico — were diverted Monday night and Tuesday morning.

— The crew of Volaris 7952, scheduled to land in Fresno shortly before 8:30 p.m., circled twice southeast of Fresno and flew as low as 425 feet over the airport before climbing and continuing to Oakland, where it landed at about 9:30 p.m.

— Another Volaris flight, Volaris 950, that was scheduled to arrive in Fresno at about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday flew about halfway up the Sea of Cortez, between Baja California and the Mexican mainland, before its pilots opted to return to Guadalajara.

— Aeromexico 786, a Boeing 737-800 with about 180 seats, was expected to arrive in Fresno at about 9:25 p.m. That flight made a fly-by at an altitude as low as 350 feet before climbing and turning south and diverting to Los Angeles, landing about 10 p.m.

Passengers aboard several domestic airline flights from Salt Lake City, Denver and cities in the western U.S. also found themselves delivered to airports hours away from Fresno.

— Alaska Airlines Flight 3449 operated by SkyWest Airlines took off from San Diego just before 8 a.m. Monday morning and was scheduled to arrive in Fresno at about 8:45 a.m. But fog forced the crew to circle seven times over the Parlier area southeast of Fresno for a potential break in the fog before they gave up and flew on to San Jose, arriving shortly after 10 a.m.

— Monday morning's Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas, Southwest 2961 aboard an Airbus 319, took off from Harry Reid International Airport at 9:23 a.m. for what would normally be about a one-hour fight to Fresno. The crew lined up southeast of Fresno Yosemite International Airport and approached from the Reedley- Parlier area, flying as low as 950 feet over the airport before climbing and continuing to San Jose, landing at 10:48 a.m.

— Also on Monday morning, United Airlines 5439, operated by SkyWest Airlines, was on its way from Denver to Fresno for a flight of about 3 1/2 hours. By the time it reached the Fresno area shortly after 9 a.m., the airport was socked in with fog. The 50-seat Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jet flew seven full loops over the Parlier area before eventually moving on to San Francisco for a landing shortly after 10 a.m.

— American Airlines 3186, another SkyWest-operated flight, was coming in from Phoenix on Monday night for a scheduled 9:15 p.m. arrival in Fresno, but was diverted to San Jose, where it landed at about 10:25 p.m.

— Allegiant Air's Monday evening flight from Las Vegas reached the skies over foggy Fresno about 40 minutes into its flight, which was supposed to land in Fresno at 9:25 p.m. Rather than attempt a landing, the crew returned to Las Vegas.

— Delta Air Lines Flight 3778, a flight operated by SkyWest Airlines, took off from Salt Lake City shortly before 9 p.m. Mountain time with the expectation of landing in Fresno less than two hours later, at 9:38 Pacific time. Rather than landing in Fresno after making four loops over the Reedley- Parlier area southeast of Fresno at about 4,900 feet, the 76-seat Embraer ERJ 175 jet continued on to San Francisco, landing at about 10 p.m.

The troubles continued on Tuesday. By Tuesday afternoon, Volaris had canceled two scheduled international flights to Fresno and one outbound flight.

On the domestic schedule, delays were reported for five inbound flights — one from Las Vegas and two each from San Francisco and Phoenix. Flights leaving from Fresno for Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Denver were also delayed Tuesday.

Travelers are encouraged to check with their airline on the latest status of their flights for any delays or other issues before leaving for the airport.

This story was originally published November 23, 2021 2:44 PM.

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