Oscar Avalle Posted July 30, 2015 Report Posted July 30, 2015 Guys did you hear about the MD88 that had to declare an emergency to land at Fargo airport some days ago. I listened to the tape and several issues came to my mind. How come that he got himself into such a situation. Second didn't the dispatcher know that the event was going on and that the airport was closed. Last but not least, why did he have to call center to declare an emergency and why couldn't he declare it directly with the tower. In any event then APLA says that we are dangerous because we may have medical issue. 1
peevee Posted July 30, 2015 Report Posted July 30, 2015 how an airline dispatches an aircraft to a notam'd closed airport without lots of extra fuel is beyond me. yet the news makes it out to be the faa's fault of course. it's been many years since I flew into fargo, but they didn't have an approach control, so without listening to the tapes he was probably holding with ZMP and not talking to tower. it's not like the show was a surprise, I saw the altrv paperwork for the display team (can't remember if it was the blue angels or tbirds tho) last week.
Bob - S50 Posted July 30, 2015 Report Posted July 30, 2015 Saw on the news last night that he was scheduled to arrive before the Blues started their practice so the airport was supposed to be open. However, they got delayed and arrived while they were closed for the practice. If this was Fargo, nearest suitable would probably be Grand Forks. Not sure about Allegiant, but NWA and Delta always gave us at least 20 minutes of contingency fuel even if the weather was nice. However, I've also left the gate at JFK with all fuel tanks full and managed to use ALL of my contingency fuel before I even got airborne. Did that once at Minneapolis too. Hard to say what happened in this case. I have diverted for fuel at least a couple times because unexpected delays would have caused me to land with less than reserve fuel. Knowing the press, we may or may not eventually hear all the facts.
flyboy0681 Posted July 30, 2015 Report Posted July 30, 2015 CBS covered this fairly well. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/allegiant-air-pilot-pleads-atc-make-emergency-landing-closed-airport/
RLCarter Posted July 30, 2015 Report Posted July 30, 2015 I heard it was practice not an actual air show, either way most of the time they clear the area to allow air carriers into the airport and besides that "Bingo Fuel" is a military term and I believe it's the point that you have enough fuel to RETURN to the departure point not that you are out of fuel.
M20F Posted July 30, 2015 Report Posted July 30, 2015 I heard it was practice not an actual air show, either way most of the time they clear the area to allow air carriers into the airport and besides that "Bingo Fuel" is a military term and I believe it's the point that you have enough fuel to RETURN to the departure point not that you are out of fuel. One of the articles said the Angels were parked on the runway and they had to move them off. I find it very hard to believe they didn't have the fuel to go 80 miles. Declaring an emergency when you didn't need to in order to get into a TFR isn't going to bode well. At least the Blues didn't "thump" them....
ryoder Posted August 3, 2015 Report Posted August 3, 2015 Cost cutting. They would have incurred more costs if they flew to an alternate. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
MB65E Posted August 3, 2015 Report Posted August 3, 2015 I don't know... I think the guy maybe have been pulling strings to get to land. Or He may have been into his reserve fuel by the time he landed at his alt airport. I thought The tone of the tape indicated some professionalism. Other than dispatch possibly blowing it, I think the crew did the right thing. No one was hurt, injured, and the people got where they needed to be. Who knows how much fuel they really had. I wish them the best, but they are up a slight incline. Maybe they were ex Airforce guys. lol. -Matt
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