ozone
Well-Known Member
OK, I have a newbie question here: I was expecting my wife to arrive at 5pm by southwest last night into DIA. Her plane left late from philly and got within 60 miles of DIA. At that point, she and the other passengers were told that a "microburst" was going to cause them to have to circle for 40 minutes B4 landing. So, since the plane did not have enough fuel, they diverted to Colorado Springs and got more gas before coming back to DIA (at 8pm...grrrr).
Anyway, I was sitting in the temporary parking lot from about 4:45 through 7pm and I saw a storm about 5-10 miles west; not over the airport. Also, the WHOLE time there were frontier, united and DHL planes landing on runway 7 every 2-5 minutes. I saw various jets (dunno if any were 737's) and turboprops in the mix.
So, for all the tuesday-morning quarterbacks out there: what gives? Does southwest not put enough fuel in the planes for xc trips + extra for emergencies? Why would various jets and turboprops be able to land, but not any 737's? As a new pilot, I just couldnt figure out why the diversion and extra fuel pickup. Plus, Southwest had to have lost money on last-night's flight with having the extra landing etc.
Anyway, I was sitting in the temporary parking lot from about 4:45 through 7pm and I saw a storm about 5-10 miles west; not over the airport. Also, the WHOLE time there were frontier, united and DHL planes landing on runway 7 every 2-5 minutes. I saw various jets (dunno if any were 737's) and turboprops in the mix.
So, for all the tuesday-morning quarterbacks out there: what gives? Does southwest not put enough fuel in the planes for xc trips + extra for emergencies? Why would various jets and turboprops be able to land, but not any 737's? As a new pilot, I just couldnt figure out why the diversion and extra fuel pickup. Plus, Southwest had to have lost money on last-night's flight with having the extra landing etc.