belgiumania
Well-Known Member
http://avherald.com/h?article=465890d1&opt=0
Link provided for reference, but to summarize the flight was planned no alternate based on a CAVOK TAF and healthy METAR. While enroute the destination and all surrounding airports fogged in unforecast leaving the flight with no option but to shoot an emergency approach to below minimums, sounds from the report that the crew never actually saw the runway on a handflown approach. They landed a 737 with just over 1000lbs of fuel remaining - for those who don't work with 737s that isn't enough to perform a go around. Reading the account it sounds like the captain did one hell of a job making sure noone died.
This one gets me because it seems like a total fluke and I would say that most of the blame falls at the feet of the forecasters for doing such an awful job. I'm not entirely sure what the dispatch position looks like in Australia or if they really even have anything comparable to the US/Canadian systems, but if indeed someone was flight following and the first the crew heard of fog at their destination was from a controller then something is going wrong there.
Thoughts from the dispatchers of JC? I know every airline has slightly different rules for no alternate planning and extra fuel, but I believe most go by the regs on this one and this situation could have just as easily happened in the US.
Link provided for reference, but to summarize the flight was planned no alternate based on a CAVOK TAF and healthy METAR. While enroute the destination and all surrounding airports fogged in unforecast leaving the flight with no option but to shoot an emergency approach to below minimums, sounds from the report that the crew never actually saw the runway on a handflown approach. They landed a 737 with just over 1000lbs of fuel remaining - for those who don't work with 737s that isn't enough to perform a go around. Reading the account it sounds like the captain did one hell of a job making sure noone died.
This one gets me because it seems like a total fluke and I would say that most of the blame falls at the feet of the forecasters for doing such an awful job. I'm not entirely sure what the dispatch position looks like in Australia or if they really even have anything comparable to the US/Canadian systems, but if indeed someone was flight following and the first the crew heard of fog at their destination was from a controller then something is going wrong there.
Thoughts from the dispatchers of JC? I know every airline has slightly different rules for no alternate planning and extra fuel, but I believe most go by the regs on this one and this situation could have just as easily happened in the US.