og

I wish the media would also report the facts accurately. To most people, "down in the Pacific" implied a watery landing, whereas "landed on a Pacific island" (or whatever) implies a landing where the aircraft is still functional and can take off again without too much trouble.

number_6

They didn't land at NOU to refuel -- they diverted due to fog closing all the Australian A380-capable airports! So it wasn't a matter of a quick refuel stop, but of waiting it out on the ground until conditions improved at SYD or even BNE/MEL. The 747 was clearly sent as contingency in case the A380 performed the same as on it's last few diversions -- unable to take off without being reset or otherwise repaired. As a point of interest QF's A380s carry a tow bar in the hold so they can be towed at airports that aren't A380-capable (but have enough runway and taxiway capability -- most do). Curfew couldn't have been a consideration (arrival from LAX is in the early morning so there is all day at any possible airports).

harryhv

Whenever there is a diversion it seems the airlines hate letting people off the plane and come up with whatever daft excuse to keep them imprisoned on the tarmac - so the terminal was "full" for 5 hours, was it? ha, ha.

NM

Are you certain that all Australian east-coast A380-capable airports were closed? It is my understanding that they received a weather report that predicted that fog was possible around the time they were due to arrive into SYD. I am not aware that there was any actual fog related issues at BNE that day, though the forecast may well have indicated that fog was possible.

I also understand the 747 sent out was actually due to head to AVV for maintenance that day, so may well have been the most suitable aircraft just due to availability of the aircraft and crew at the time.

og

SYD was very hazy that day but had at least 6 km visibility towards the city from the west at 06:30. I assume but can't confirm whether the airport had the same weather. I was surprised to read about the diversion.

FWIW, both UAs left that afternoon pretty much on time - and they are notorious for delays if the inbound flights are diverted / delayed.

Oneworldplus2

that's what first came to my mind.

But l remember that SYD and MEL spent money widening the airport runways (among other things) to accommodate the A380.

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=...cG3ulMEPNax4bQ

MEL Airport
http://www.acaa.net.au/pdf/2006_tp_pp/johnhollandtp.pdf

serfty

That they did. It was more to reduce the impact of ongoing usage than ad hoc situations.

FWIW, the 388's can always be towed to/from the runway should that be necessary.

LMB01

I was on that flight - let me add the details as I experienced them.

About 3 hours from landing in Sydney, the captain advised us that Sydney had weather (fog) issues as did our "backup" airports of Brisbane and Melbourne. An update was due within an hour but that was outside of our "go/no go" window. We needed to refuel and the decision was made to go to Noumea.

No problems at all with runway length. The issue was at the end of the runway - airport does not have a taxiway - they are building it now. We needed to turn around at the end of the runway and did not have room. We need a tractor to tow us. 1st tractor sent did not have enough power to move the A380. 2nd tractor finally came and towed us to the terminal area for refueling. We sat at the end of the runway for 2 hours - essentially shutting it down for use by any other planes. We were quite a site for all the locals - many cars and folks gathered to take pictures - also true of the local airport and police personnel.

Once we were at the terminal and preparing to refuel (this involves the fire dept personnel coming on board and ensuring all passengers had their seat belts unfastened), my concern came to be a fact ........... the crew timed out. The pilot announced that if they flew us to Sydney now, the crew would exceed their 20 hour work limit. So on to plan B........bringing another plane to get us to Sydney. This is where the 747 came into the picture. The original plan B was to send the 747 and move passengers, luggage and cargo to the new plane. We were advised that the plane would not be leaving Sydney for a few hours, combined with the 3 hour flight to Noumea and turn around, we were advised the earliest we would be leaving for Sydney is midafternoon.

We did have to stay on the plane for a few hours due to the fact the airport could not handle all of our passengers plus the passengers currently in the airport that were going to board an outbound (Air France?) flight. The airport manager advised once that flight was boarded, we could deplane and have use of the terminal. While we were waiting, the pilot came out of the cockpit and walked through the plane talking with passengers and answering any questions posed to him.

Truthfully, it is such a small terminal, it was almost more comfortable on the plane (I was in business so that is easy for me to say). Those of us in business got use of the lounge, also small, and quickly depleted the little food and beverages there. The airport finally arranged food for all the passengers which was quite a challenge for them - they just aren't used to working with that many people.

An update later in the day informed us the 747 was on its way but a revised plan was in place. It was bringing a new A380 crew to fly us to Sydney in our original aircraft - good news as I was not looking foward to the logistic challenges the change of aircraft would have caused. 747 finally lands and parks next to A380. Lots of picture taking by all - sorry, I'm not a picture taker so I don't have any to post. It was a pretty impressive site with those two big birds next to each other at this small airport. QF also sent a group of ticket agents/gate agents to assist with issues caused by the delay. We were also informed that our new pilot was the number one A380 pilot - we had the best.

It took quite a while to work out all the details and start loading the passengers but we finally reboarded. Now the question - do they push us down the runway for take off or do we taxi on our own and try to turn around again? We did it on our own. I'm not sure what the problem was on the landing with our end of runway turnaround but I can tell you the new pilot turned that A380 on a dime for takeoff. No issues at all.

All in all, we were on Noumea for about 12 hours - we landed just before sunrise and took off just after sunset. Was it fun - no. Was it torture - no. While we were on the aircraft, we had air conditioning, use of bathroom, refreshments, entertainment system and power outlets. It could have been much worse. Was I bored - sure, but hey, stuff happens.

That is a "quick" summary of the day. I'd be happy to answer any questions if I can.

Kiwi Flyer

Thanks for the report LMB01 ^^

Himeno

lol Sounds like when I was on QF32 in KUL last year.

VH-RMD

yes, thanks LMB01.

And the real kicker (in relation to the OP) is everyone was safe...

DownUnderFlyer

Thanks LMB01! ^

This is what makes FT so great, nothing beats first hand experience. I am just glad that I wasn't on that plane with a toddler.

cova

On my A380 flight from LAX-MEL in February, we diverted to HNL due to medical emergency. We had to back track to HNL since we were already 1 hour past HNL. An A380 had never landed at HNL before - so lots of people out at 4:30am to see. A few from the ground staff got an inside tour.

No runway issues, just refueling issues. We had to dump fuel and then refuel. But it took 1.5 hours to refuel, since the hoses were too small.

But the crew was able to get a slight extension on the hours, but we had to land in SYD - since an additional exception could not be granted. QF put on a smaller aircraft to continue, since some got off at SYD.

MKEbound

Great trip report.

markis10

It all depends on the crews hours, as a matter of fact the day before this the same flight diverted to BNE for a topup and continued on before any SYD or MEL arrivals, no crew change required at all. I suspect the same thing was hoped for this situation however the turnaround delays meant it was not to be.