Oops, we miscalculated the fuel
Dec 18, 2003 | 12:44 pm
#1
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Oops, we miscalculated the fuel
JFK-CDG, airline to remain nameless (since we -did- get there). The pilot comes on and announces that the fuel numbers supplied by the fueler don't calculate correctly, and the gauges read OK, but we are going to sit on the tarmac while the aircraft undergoes a "manual fuel verification procedure" (presumably some guys with dipsticks). The pilot claimed this was the first occurrence of this type in his 25 years with the airline. This certainly made for an interesting flight! Has something like this ever happened to you?
Dec 18, 2003 | 12:48 pm
#2
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Since this post does not share specific details about the trip and solicits other peoples' experiences, I think it is better suited to the TravelBuzz forum. I am accordingly relocating it there.
Thanks
Sean (B747-437B)
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Trip Reports
Thanks
Sean (B747-437B)
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Trip Reports
Dec 18, 2003 | 1:04 pm
#3
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At least you didn't have a "Gimli glider" incident (Air Canada) or an incident where a plane flying to Portugal had to make an emergency landing in the Azores (Air Transat). Does anyone know of any running out of fuel stories that did not have a happy ending?
Dec 18, 2003 | 1:33 pm
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I've never seen anything quite like that.
One time we were all set to push back when the captain made an announcement that the fuelers had loaded on too much fuel for our (short) flight and that we'd be delayed for a half-hour. His answer to the obvious question (Why does it take so long to offload some fuel?) was that they have lots of big trucks with big pumps to load aircraft, but only a small truck with a much slower pump to unload them.
One time we were all set to push back when the captain made an announcement that the fuelers had loaded on too much fuel for our (short) flight and that we'd be delayed for a half-hour. His answer to the obvious question (Why does it take so long to offload some fuel?) was that they have lots of big trucks with big pumps to load aircraft, but only a small truck with a much slower pump to unload them.
Dec 18, 2003 | 1:48 pm
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I've never heard of this.
I've been on a plane sat at LCY over a fuel payment dispute, eventually resolved by the pilot (seen making furious gestures out the window - the standing start required at LCY was even more vicious than usual after that...)
I've also been on a KLM AMS-VIE flight that was forced to divert to MUC as it did not have enough fuel to stack at VIE for 45 minutes following an earlier airport closure. That wasn't encouraging.
I've been on a plane sat at LCY over a fuel payment dispute, eventually resolved by the pilot (seen making furious gestures out the window - the standing start required at LCY was even more vicious than usual after that...)
I've also been on a KLM AMS-VIE flight that was forced to divert to MUC as it did not have enough fuel to stack at VIE for 45 minutes following an earlier airport closure. That wasn't encouraging.
Dec 18, 2003 | 2:06 pm
#7
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I've also been on a few hot summer afternoon flights DCA-MCI where we had to make a pit stop in various places like Louisville, Nashville, or Indy.
Those were planned pit stops: the 1000-mile rule out of DCA quickly becomes about a 700-mile rule for a fully loaded 737 on a 90 degree day, especially if there was any bad weather predicted along the way. Instead of cancelling flights, US Airways just stopped for gas along the way.
Those were planned pit stops: the 1000-mile rule out of DCA quickly becomes about a 700-mile rule for a fully loaded 737 on a 90 degree day, especially if there was any bad weather predicted along the way. Instead of cancelling flights, US Airways just stopped for gas along the way.
Dec 18, 2003 | 3:15 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Analise:
Why are you hiding the identity of the airline?</font>
Why are you hiding the identity of the airline?</font>
2. The incident was probably the fault of the fuel jockey (who, presumably, is out of a job) and not the airline.
Dec 18, 2003 | 4:16 pm
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On a flight from MAD-LHR, we and others sat down in Bournemouth to refuel and hang out while waiting for clearance into LHR. Does anyone know if the is a common occurrence given the volume of traffic into LHR?
Dec 18, 2003 | 4:22 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Blumie:
On a flight from MAD-LHR, we and others sat down in Bournemouth to refuel and hang out while waiting for clearance into LHR. Does anyone know if the is a common occurrence given the volume of traffic into LHR?</font>
On a flight from MAD-LHR, we and others sat down in Bournemouth to refuel and hang out while waiting for clearance into LHR. Does anyone know if the is a common occurrence given the volume of traffic into LHR?</font>
Did they let people headed for the South Coast off at BOH? I know that when we stopped on that AMS-VIE flight at MUC, some people were very unhappy they couldn't leave there (despite the fact we were on a terminal stand).
Dec 18, 2003 | 6:21 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by stut:
Did they let people headed for the South Coast off at BOH?</font>
Did they let people headed for the South Coast off at BOH?</font>
Dec 18, 2003 | 9:05 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by N674UW:
Didn't the Ethiopian 767 hijacking end in a ditching cause it ran out of gas?
</font>
Didn't the Ethiopian 767 hijacking end in a ditching cause it ran out of gas?
</font>