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Allegiant Air flight runs low on fuel over closed airport, makes emergency landing
An Allegiant Air flight ran dangerously low on fuel last week as it circled an airport in North Dakota that was actually closed so the Navy's Blue Angels could practice for an upcoming air show. (www.tampabay.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Because dispatch hands you a flight package, or you bring it up yourself at the ops office before departure. With the weather and the operational flight plan, there are maybe 58 pages (looking at my last package) Buried on page 36, there is a notam about the airport being closed during the following period "blah blah blah" When (if) you notice this, you check the arrival time and say "We get there beforehand…."
Then 6 things happen (which led to the hour delay, and the NOTAM has slipped your mind. When you level off in cruise, you check the arrival time and a bell goes off…….. you recheck the notam and call dispatch, let them know about the situation, and they PROMISE to arrange things for your arrival. So maybe you decide to cruise faster than usual to make up some of the time, and the winds are 15 knots off velocity and 35 degrees off direction, giving you a greater than expected headwind or less than expected tailwind. ….and of course you used fuel if the delay was partially after engine start in the line up for departure…..
Pucker factor is increasing, but you call dispatch a couple times and they "are working on it….."
So Kenneth, it is usually not one thing, accidents happen when the factors build up and any one thing would not have caused an accident, but together these little facts conspire against you.
Now, I am not an airline pilot, I am a VIP corporate sled pilot. I am not beholden to dispatch or operations and I can take the fuel I want. But I still get this tome of paper handed to me. Arrival at the airport 2 hours before departure sounds like enough, does´t it?
But the flight attendant calls, stuck in traffic or broken down, the fuel truck has you next on the list……but doesn´t have enough remaining and so has to go to the fuel farm and reload, the passenger´s driver calls and says they are 30 minutes early and he expects to be at the gate in 15 minutes. The catering just arrived, but remember the FA is missing…..
It can happen to the best of us, airline or executive charter, corporate, private. Try telling the boss that he cannot land due to storms in the area and he will accept that safety comes first. Try telling him you will be delayed 30 minutes in order to finish reading the notams and you might be looking for another job quick-like.
I am not trying to make an excuse for the pilot, he can explain it himself and undoubted will get the chance. But read Fate is the Hunter and report back.
Then 6 things happen (which led to the hour delay, and the NOTAM has slipped your mind. When you level off in cruise, you check the arrival time and a bell goes off…….. you recheck the notam and call dispatch, let them know about the situation, and they PROMISE to arrange things for your arrival. So maybe you decide to cruise faster than usual to make up some of the time, and the winds are 15 knots off velocity and 35 degrees off direction, giving you a greater than expected headwind or less than expected tailwind. ….and of course you used fuel if the delay was partially after engine start in the line up for departure…..
Pucker factor is increasing, but you call dispatch a couple times and they "are working on it….."
So Kenneth, it is usually not one thing, accidents happen when the factors build up and any one thing would not have caused an accident, but together these little facts conspire against you.
Now, I am not an airline pilot, I am a VIP corporate sled pilot. I am not beholden to dispatch or operations and I can take the fuel I want. But I still get this tome of paper handed to me. Arrival at the airport 2 hours before departure sounds like enough, does´t it?
But the flight attendant calls, stuck in traffic or broken down, the fuel truck has you next on the list……but doesn´t have enough remaining and so has to go to the fuel farm and reload, the passenger´s driver calls and says they are 30 minutes early and he expects to be at the gate in 15 minutes. The catering just arrived, but remember the FA is missing…..
It can happen to the best of us, airline or executive charter, corporate, private. Try telling the boss that he cannot land due to storms in the area and he will accept that safety comes first. Try telling him you will be delayed 30 minutes in order to finish reading the notams and you might be looking for another job quick-like.
I am not trying to make an excuse for the pilot, he can explain it himself and undoubted will get the chance. But read Fate is the Hunter and report back.
Sounds like the Second Officer's last name is Murphy.
According to Richard N. Velotta reporting for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the airline says the flight landed with 42 minutes of fuel, 3 into the reserve required by FAR. 45-30 minutes is considered "minimum fuel", less than 30 is "emergency". Missing the NOTAM by both the dispatcher and both pilots is something for the FAA to inquire about, particularly since one was the director of safety and the other vp of flight operations.
As far as the alternate issue is concerned, I'm sure the FAA is going to be very interested in the thought process that precluded going to an open airport 70 miles away or as one writer here noted approx equidistant. I didn't look at the track but have to question the judgement of making a bad situation worse by not going to an alternate that if reports are true was clearly within the range of the aircraft.
Lastly is the use of non standard verbiage in a critical situation as has also been noted earlier, "bingo fuel", (which also sounded so dire when the tapes were broadcast and commented on by reporters who have little idea what's going on). I don't know what that means exactly as a civilian pilot for 47 years, yes I've heard it bantied about when discussing amongst ourselves our options to go to an alternate or not and when; but as standard phraseology, particularly with high level management pilots in command, once again, no, shouldn't have happened. I'm sure the FAA is going to be very interested to hear their explanations, quite frankly, so am I.
As far as the alternate issue is concerned, I'm sure the FAA is going to be very interested in the thought process that precluded going to an open airport 70 miles away or as one writer here noted approx equidistant. I didn't look at the track but have to question the judgement of making a bad situation worse by not going to an alternate that if reports are true was clearly within the range of the aircraft.
Lastly is the use of non standard verbiage in a critical situation as has also been noted earlier, "bingo fuel", (which also sounded so dire when the tapes were broadcast and commented on by reporters who have little idea what's going on). I don't know what that means exactly as a civilian pilot for 47 years, yes I've heard it bantied about when discussing amongst ourselves our options to go to an alternate or not and when; but as standard phraseology, particularly with high level management pilots in command, once again, no, shouldn't have happened. I'm sure the FAA is going to be very interested to hear their explanations, quite frankly, so am I.
I don't disagree about the work load factor, but your destination airport being closed due to TFR is probably one NOTAM that shouldn't "slip" either the dispatcher's or pilot's mind.
As for the fuel, there seems to be no indication he didn't have a legal load. The pilot was very much in the right for insisting he needed to land prior to burning into his 45 minute reserve. One thing to note is that according to the Flight Aware track, he was roughly an equal distance from Fargo to Grand Forks at the time he started his inbound turn to final, so a diversion to Grand Forks would not have factored too greatly into the final fuel burn number.
I think it's kind of too bad that ATC couldn't work with the Blue Angels so far as letting a scheduled passenger airliner land at it's routine destination, but passenger jets are not on the list of exceptions allowed in 91.145(g).
As for the fuel, there seems to be no indication he didn't have a legal load. The pilot was very much in the right for insisting he needed to land prior to burning into his 45 minute reserve. One thing to note is that according to the Flight Aware track, he was roughly an equal distance from Fargo to Grand Forks at the time he started his inbound turn to final, so a diversion to Grand Forks would not have factored too greatly into the final fuel burn number.
I think it's kind of too bad that ATC couldn't work with the Blue Angels so far as letting a scheduled passenger airliner land at it's routine destination, but passenger jets are not on the list of exceptions allowed in 91.145(g).
Well, it was in the NOTAM
Actually, the FAA has a NOTAM Improvement Panel in place at the moment to address issues like this. The current July 2015 ASRS Callback http://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/publications/callback/cb_426.html focuses on a few cases where controllers and pilots have missed NOTAMS, and what needs to be done to reduce these occurances.
Why does an airline dispatch an aircraft without the required fuel reserves?
It appears to me someone needs to shake the tree at Allegiant and see what falls out of it.