2023-11-24 05:06:00
A Lufthansa cockpit crew had to wait so long in San Francisco for clearance to land that they ran out of fuel. In the end she had to move to Oakland. Now there is criticism of the behavior of air traffic control.
Actually, the guests and crew on board flight LH458 were almost at their destination. Lufthansa’s Airbus A350 had already begun its descent towards San Francisco International Airport on October 16th. He flew over the coastal town of Stinson Beach, then steered past the Golden Gate resort area and the world-famous bridge and headed for the airport in the Californian metropolis.
But instead of eating or sipping a cocktail in San Francisco in the evening, the flight continued for the crew and passengers – for an hour. Because when the cockpit crew contacted the American controllers, they received the answer: “Expect a visual approach.” The Lufthansa crew replied: “Due to company regulations, we cannot carry out visual approaches at night.”
“What’s the problem here?”
Air traffic control then replied: “In this case, delays are to be expected,” as can be read in a report published by the YouTube portal VAS Aviation. Lufthansa’s Airbus A350 was then queued for the approach with the instrument landing system ILS. And so he began filming loops off the California coast. After 20 minutes, a controller reported back that it would take another ten minutes longer.
The Lufthansa pilot was starting to get annoyed. After waiting the extra ten minutes and four more, he radioed air traffic control once more: “If we can’t land soon, we’ll have to declare a fuel emergency. And that would really mess up your order.” The controller asked back what Lufthansa’s alternative airport for San Francisco was. “Oakland,” it came back from the cockpit. The controller wanted to know whether they needed instructions for Oakland. “Eh, no. What’s the problem here?”
“So how many minutes will it be?”
And from then on the conversation became tense. «I can’t have this conversation with you. Either you move to Oakland or you stay on hold, it’s up to you,” said the lost man now defiantly. And the Lufthansa pilot replied just as defiantly: “Okay, you promised me 10 minutes, they expired four minutes ago. So how many more minutes will it take?”
Then the lost man replied: “The conversation is over.” And then: “Do you want to divert the flight? Or do you want to continue with the delay?” Lufthansa’s Airbus A350 finally landed in Oakland – more than twelve hours following taking off from Munich. But the crew’s work wasn’t done yet. Because the plane was now at the wrong airport.
And then to San Francisco
After 45 minutes of standing in Oakland and refueling, the crew still had to hop to San Francisco. That took another 45 minutes. This was the only way the return flight might take place on time.
The Association of Aviation Operations Professionals Ops Group American air traffic control therefore sharply criticizes it. «With regard to flight safety, one may ask whether it makes sense to subject the crew to significant additional fatigue following a long flight. Was it really not possible for 30 minutes to create an additional two or three nautical miles between two aircraft to make this flight possible?
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