Weather warning forces Qantas A380 down in Pacific
Aug 10, 2010, 11:42 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Los angeles
Programs: american advantage, hyatt gold passport, SPG, Southwest Rapid Rewards, Hilton Honors,Priority Club
Posts: 43
Weather warning forces Qantas A380 down in Pacific
Weather warning forces Qantas A380 down in Pacific
ANDREW HEASLEY
August 11, 2010 - 3:04PM
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-...811-11z9k.html
[edited to removed ad, and to add the link to the article as per FT Guidelines and Rules]
Qantas passengers flying from Los Angeles to Sydney were stuck on the ground on board one of its superjumbos for five hours today after bad weather forecasts forced an unscheduled touchdown in Noumea.
The Airbus A380 with 374 passengers and 26 crew on board had to divert to the Pacific island to refuel after pilots received weather warnings of thick fog on Australia's eastern seaboard.
Passengers were kept on board the plane after Noumea's airport authorities realised the terminal could not cope with the unexpected influx of travellers.The holiday island's airport had an Air Calin Airbus A330 and its passengers to contend with first.
ANDREW HEASLEY
August 11, 2010 - 3:04PM
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-...811-11z9k.html
[edited to removed ad, and to add the link to the article as per FT Guidelines and Rules]
Qantas passengers flying from Los Angeles to Sydney were stuck on the ground on board one of its superjumbos for five hours today after bad weather forecasts forced an unscheduled touchdown in Noumea.
The Airbus A380 with 374 passengers and 26 crew on board had to divert to the Pacific island to refuel after pilots received weather warnings of thick fog on Australia's eastern seaboard.
Passengers were kept on board the plane after Noumea's airport authorities realised the terminal could not cope with the unexpected influx of travellers.The holiday island's airport had an Air Calin Airbus A330 and its passengers to contend with first.
Last edited by willyroo; Aug 11, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Aug 11, 2010, 1:59 am
#5
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: usually in Pacific Islands
Programs: NZ (LT Koru); QF (WP & LTG); FJ (Tabua)
Posts: 123
A QF A380 and 747 both on the ground at the same time at Tontouta would be a truly amazing sight...hope to see some photos somehow. No airbridges there of course; the planes would be free-standing out on the tarmac and not at all overshadowed by the terminal building.
Wonder if AKL was ever an option? What was the weather like there at the time? May have proven to be a better scenario in terms of passenger comfort and potential for finding alternate crew...or might have avoided the crew going out of time?
Wonder if AKL was ever an option? What was the weather like there at the time? May have proven to be a better scenario in terms of passenger comfort and potential for finding alternate crew...or might have avoided the crew going out of time?
Aug 11, 2010, 2:30 am
#6
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,114
A380 trained crew are only based in Sydney and Melbourne (and London) so no matter where it diverts be it NOU, AKL or like last month even to BNE - a crew will have to be flown out to get the aircraft and the passengers home.
The A380 diverted to NAN last month but was able to get away to BNE (with barely a minute left on crew limitations). While the flight was on it's way to BNE a new crew from SYD was flown up to bring it down.
The A380 diverted to NAN last month but was able to get away to BNE (with barely a minute left on crew limitations). While the flight was on it's way to BNE a new crew from SYD was flown up to bring it down.
Aug 11, 2010, 5:11 am
#7
Moderator: Asiana & Qantas Frequent Flyer
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: STR/SYD/SMF
Programs: QF Lifetime SG, LH HON, OZ Lifetime Diamond +, HH Diamond, Marriott Lifetime Platinum
Posts: 14,385
Why would you send a 747 to Noumea to just send a replacement crew? Why not charter an Antonov? Or two? 
Just a couple of weeks ago we had to land at HNL to refuel on an UA flight LAX-SYD because the aircraft in question wasn't able to fly the distance.
Just a couple of weeks ago we had to land at HNL to refuel on an UA flight LAX-SYD because the aircraft in question wasn't able to fly the distance.
Aug 11, 2010, 8:59 am
#10
Join Date: Jul 2007
Programs: QFF
Posts: 5,304
If you just need to land, taxi, refuel and take off, almost any airport is fine (though movements may be slower then normal due to runway/taxiway spacing).
Aug 11, 2010, 9:14 am
#11
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,857
The big issues is that they decided to land in Noumea which has serious space restrictions. They could have gone for a bigger airport such as AKL but may not have been able to meet curfew. It sounds like without the AirCalin issue they may have been able to refuel and be on their way but not to be.
Aug 11, 2010, 3:58 pm
#14
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Programs: QF LTG/WP, Various others = way too much flying
Posts: 195
Maybe they were hedging their bets against the A380 going tech - if it went toes-up at least they could (in theory) transfer all or most of the pax to the 747 and fly them home. It probably wouldn't be elegant, eg I'm not sure how the luggage would get from one to the other, but at least they'd get the people home.