LH A380 lands in OAK, fog at SFO
Jan 12, 2018, 6:18 pm
#1
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LH A380 lands in OAK, fog at SFO
LH454 lands in OAK due to fog at SFO.
Lufthansa plane circles SFO for 30 minutes, lands in Oakland, passengers sit in plane on tarmac - Story | KTVU
Fog density diverted the Airbus A380 and prompted the circling. Landing for fuel is routine when airports have a weather program in place. The massive plane landed in Oakland between 1:00 and 1:30 p.m. and the passengers remained aboard as it sat on the tarmac. With no ability to unload passengers in Oakland, the plane needed to get to SFO. It took off shortly after 3:30 p.m. and landed in San Francisco less than 15 minutes later. Oakland International is not equipped for a plane as large as the airbus. Creww brought forth a ladder but it fell short of the plane's doors.
Jan 12, 2018, 10:44 pm
#2
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Jan 13, 2018, 5:59 am
#3
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Jan 13, 2018, 1:53 pm
#5
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If the aircraft is already low on fuel it wouldn't be wise to proceed to a busy airport like LAX much further away than OAK. It was never the intention to let pax disembark at OAK.
Jan 13, 2018, 3:56 pm
#6
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It's hard to believe there's no way to get passengers off at OAK (aside from the slides). If SFO is out of commission, the plan is to land planes (LH, EK, BA, others?) at OAK, gas up and then go to LAX? How much could one A380-complaint set of stairs cost?
Jan 13, 2018, 5:56 pm
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[KVS Tool 8.7.7/Diamond - Operational Info: LH 454/12 Jan 2018]
Code:
Planned Flight Info
Segment Departure Arrival Duration
------- --------- --------- --------
FRA-OAK 10:40 13:38 11:58
OAK-SFO 14:25 15:25 01:00
Segment Flight Note
------- ------------------------------------------------
FRA-OAK Departure Terminal: 1
Ticket Type: E-Ticket [ET]
ESTA REQUIRED FOR VISA WAIVER NATIONALS
FULLY FLAT BED IN BUSINESS CLASS. SEE WWW.LH.COM
SEC FLT PSGR DATA REQUIRED 72 HBD SSR DOCS
US LAW SEE GGAIRLH PNR ACCESS OR NEWS KEYWORDS
Cabin Configuration: F8 C78 E52 M371
Location Time Operational Event
-------- ----- ---------------------------
OAK 13:39 Aircraft Landed
OAK 13:46 Arrived
OAK 15:20 Estimated Time Of Departure
OAK 15:31 Left The Gate
OAK 15:38 Took Off
SFO 16:17 Estimated Time Of Arrival
SFO 15:52 Aircraft Landed
SFO 16:02 Arrived
Jan 13, 2018, 6:34 pm
#9
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Airports have to design special gates to handle the 380. There are only a handful in the U.S. that can take them.
Jan 14, 2018, 1:19 am
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Jan 14, 2018, 4:18 am
#12
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I was in the A380 aircraft on Dec 27th when we landed at OAK from FRA under the same conditions. Reasons given were a) fog at SFO and b) need to refuel at OAK before continuing on to SFO. Refueling was conducted with pax onboard. There was never any discussion of allowing pax to disembark. Reason given was lack of U.S. customs support, nothing about stairs. (I'm sure they had customs personnel, but had no desire to process any pax or luggage, or to allow only certain pax to deplane.)
As coincidence would have it, I was to return from SFO to FRA yesterday via this A380 and had a nice wait for this aircraft to arrive at SFO from OAK. Very chaotic at SFO for those who already knew they would miss connecting flights from FRA. The support at SFO for those people didn't seem to be up to par. I'm fortunate to not have been in the situation of needing support for any onward flight.
It does make me curious. After personally experiencing this twice in two weeks, how often does this occur on this route? What are the costs (in profit, reputation, and customer satisfaction) involved? At which point does it become a mistake (if ever) to use such a large aircraft with the costs (in profit, reputation, and customer satisfaction) involved?
As coincidence would have it, I was to return from SFO to FRA yesterday via this A380 and had a nice wait for this aircraft to arrive at SFO from OAK. Very chaotic at SFO for those who already knew they would miss connecting flights from FRA. The support at SFO for those people didn't seem to be up to par. I'm fortunate to not have been in the situation of needing support for any onward flight.
It does make me curious. After personally experiencing this twice in two weeks, how often does this occur on this route? What are the costs (in profit, reputation, and customer satisfaction) involved? At which point does it become a mistake (if ever) to use such a large aircraft with the costs (in profit, reputation, and customer satisfaction) involved?
Last edited by Grog; Jan 14, 2018 at 4:26 am
Jan 14, 2018, 9:37 am
#13
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It does make me curious. After personally experiencing this twice in two weeks, how often does this occur on this route? What are the costs (in profit, reputation, and customer satisfaction) involved? At which point does it become a mistake (if ever) to use such a large aircraft with the costs (in profit, reputation, and customer satisfaction) involved?
Jan 14, 2018, 10:20 am
#14
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Jan 14, 2018, 1:32 pm
#15
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I was in the A380 aircraft on Dec 27th when we landed at OAK from FRA under the same conditions.
[snip]
As coincidence would have it, I was to return from SFO to FRA yesterday via this A380 and had a nice wait for this aircraft to arrive at SFO from OAK.
[snip]
It does make me curious. After personally experiencing this twice in two weeks, how often does this occur on this route?
[snip]
As coincidence would have it, I was to return from SFO to FRA yesterday via this A380 and had a nice wait for this aircraft to arrive at SFO from OAK.
[snip]
It does make me curious. After personally experiencing this twice in two weeks, how often does this occur on this route?