QF A380 in Adelaide 17/5/11

[Stefan Perkas]

Morning all,

QF10 SIN-MEL diverted to Adelaide this morning. Arrived just after 0400 and departed 2 hours later. Aircraft was A380 VH-OQI.

[Jayden Laing]

A MELBOURNE-bound Qantas plane was forced to divert to Adelaide this morning after crew discovered it did not have enough fuel.


A Qantas spokesman said the A380 from Singapore made the unexpected pit stop around 5am AEST.

He said the low fuel supply was not the result of a leak.

"Engineers have inspected the aircraft on ground this morning in Adelaide and found there were no technical issues," the spokesman said.

"The flight crew found they had burnt through the fuel supplies quicker than expected.

"It was not an emergency landing."

The jet carrying 249 passengers was expected to arrive in Melbourne about 7.30am (AEST).


http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/qantas-flight-forced-to-divert-to-adelaide-after-burning-through-fuel/story-e6frfku0-1226057229931

[Chris Q]

249 passengers on an a380 is quite empty!

surprised there was no media on board saying they were scared for their lives...

[steve k]

Wonder if they get fined for breaking curfew under non emergency or medical conditions

[Nigel C]

Would you have preferred they kept circling over Adelaide until the fuel situation did require an official emergency declaration?

[steve k]

Dont be silly, fact is pilots made a gross miscalc with fuel load, and I have heard fines are incurred for aircraft landing in curfew. Except for aircraft emergency or medical emergency. Prob landed on coastal end anyway so no dramas with noise usually

[Lukas M]

ADL Airport is still in court with Tiger over missing curfew times, it was something like $5000, then went up to $20,000, yet they are probaly still ahead. ADL tower usually gives around 15-20mins dispensation, but Tiger had wheels up at 11.45pm.

Well if the A380 kept going onto Melbourne, they would be holding for nearly 2 hrs until works finished on 16/34.

[Adrian B]

Whoa there sunshine!! Gross miscalc? I think we might need to back up the bus there until the facts are available.

The a/c may well have made it safely though not legally through to MEL, but without enough diversion fuel to go to ADL or SYD if there was an issue. What was the outside temp possibly affecting burn rate? What were the winds like? Did these things alter enough to eat into the margins.

I would rather they splash and dash than put me as a pax into a dangerous situation. Engineers have cleared the a/c of any issues,

You may be right, but a grandious statement off the top like that is exactly what the news papers do. I know you are more educated than they seem to be.

[Philip Argy]

There has to be more to this than what's been reported. The key issue for me is the reported 'surprise' by the crew. Stronger than expected headwinds are not unheard of, but the increased burn rate would become apparent in plenty of time and the crew would hardly be surprised to find themselves running low on required reserves.

So were the flight crew in fact taken by surprise by low fuel, or were they taken by surprise by unexpected abnormal weather, or did something else actually occur? Hopefully the ATSB will take a look at what happened in case it was a data input error of the kind that caused the EK tailstrike out of MEL a few years ago.

[Garry Emanuel]

Similar thought occurred to me too.

Being removed from the main stream, I can't judge the likelihood of such an occurrence, however, struck me as odd that there could be such an issue and for it to be "surprising".

I thought it would be like me leaving Sydney with a full tank in the car, expecting to get to Brisvegas and then discovering at Coffs Harbour that I only had enough to get to to Grafton ! ! ! !

[Ray P.]

Just because the media uses the term 'surprised' doesn't actually guarantee that anybody was actually surprised. :rolleyes: In fact, the correct translation for the media's use of the term 'surprised' is actually 'meh'. :p

[Radi K]

Perhaps it was an indication fault, thats why engineers inspected the aircraft?

[Adam Kent]

This seems relevant:

This week, two Qantas long-haul jets were forced to divert because they did not have enough fuel on board to reach their destinations.

The pilots have told AM that the airline is pressuring them to cut costs by taking on less fuel.


http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/20/3222209.htm

[Jethro H]

Wonder if they get fined for breaking curfew under non emergency or medical conditions
No. The Act exempts any aircraft that has insufficient fuel to be diverted to another airport.

[Mark Grima]

Just a question guys?

What happens on short haul domestic flights? Do they fill 'er up in the morning with enough to get through that days flying (or as many flights as they can). Or is it basically a splash and dash before each flight?

Also would there be any policy difference here between Jetstar and the mainline, thinking the JQ would have shorter turn arounds and possibly not enough time for fuelling between each flight?

Cheers

M

[Brad M]

all airlines are "splash and dash" as you put it..
no point in carrying the extra weight if they don't have to..

even half hour turnarounds for TT/JQ etc , are refuelled on a per sector basis..

[Chris B.]

Not for turboprops it's not. They're encouraged to tanker fuel to get them back to a main hub, be it SYD, MEL, ADL, etc.

[Brad M]

well yes , your right Chris , and thankyou...

Mark , just to clarify your question regarding domestic flights and JQ , if their A320's are fitted with Turbo props , then They're encouraged to tanker fuel to get them back to a main hub, be it SYD, MEL, ADL, etc. :D

[Grant Smith]

Geez Brad, that was a bit harsh, afterall the question posed by Mark did state "short haul domestic flights" there was no mention as far as I can see in regards to jet or turboprop.

Chris would appear to be taking his lead from that part of the question and the first part of your answer regarding the line "all airlines", as it was only in the 2nd part of the question did he refer to JQ specifics.

But then again, not everyone loves a smartass ;)

[Brad M]

im just havin' a laugh :)

we were talking about domestic services , which to me is DJ , TT , JQ etc.
turboprop for regional destinations , like REX , Q-link etc..

so yes , from my experience, out of ADL, the regional carriers take return fuel..

[Mark Grima]

Cricky, I disappear for a couple days and look what happens haha.

Thanks for the responses guys, so jets 'splash and dash' to use my language and props fill with enough to get them back to a capital city. Got it.

Cheers

M