A Sydney-bound United 747 jet was forced to land in Brisbane today because it was low on fuel, in what appears to be the second such incident in just three days.
The United Airlines (UA) flight from Los Angeles landed in Brisbane’s international airport at about 10.30am, a spokeswoman for the airport said.
She said it diverted because it was low on fuel and had an engineering fault.
“They had fuel requirements so they had to fill up again, but they also reported an engineering fault,” the spokeswoman said.
The passengers arrived in Sydney later in the day after another UA plane was commissioned to transfer them.
The spokeswoman said it was unlikely any lives were put at risk.
“They probably just erred on the side of caution, but in all honesty, you have to look at the logs to know exactly why they make those decisions.”
She said UA flights did not normally land in Brisbane.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said that while UA engineers would have to file a report on the incident, it was unlikely there would be a formal full-scale investigation.
“The United ground engineers will inspect it,” he said.
“If there has been some sort of component failure they will have to replace it before it is signed off.
“The bureau will look at the details when we get the report and then decide if we will investigate it or not.
“Based on the preliminary information, I’d say we wouldn’t be investigating it.”
He said the flight appeared to land with sufficient fuel reserves as they had not requested a priority clearance.
“To maintain the reserves they may have thought it was more prudent to land in Brisbane than in Sydney,” the spokesman said.
“If the aircraft was very low on fuel coming into an airport, they would let air traffic control know to make it a priority, but that hasn’t happened in this case, to the best of my knowledge.”
But a Sydney resident said the same thing occurred on Thursday morning involving her San Francisco to Sydney flight.
“I was on UA863 and we were told we had to land at Brisbane because we were low on fuel,” Vicki Johnson said.
“We were due in at Sydney at 8.10 in the morning and never arrived until midday.”
The ATSB spokesman said it was not unusual for long-haul flights to have to refuel close to their destination.
“It’s very dependent on wind conditions,” he said.
“They have forecasts for winds before they take off and they load fuel accordingly.
“If those winds, the headwinds, are stronger than anticipated, for instance, then towards the end of the flight they may be running low on fuel.
“It’s not necessarily a cause for concern.”
UA officials could not be contacted for comment.
Source: AAP
By: cloud_9 - 17th January 2010 at 11:11
I surprised no American pax were interviewed. Their statements would probably have been something like:
“They told us we were running out of fuel. We all thought we were going to die.”
Seems like the Australian’s beat them too it…
“I was on UA863 and we were told we had to land at Brisbane because we were low on fuel,” Vicki Johnson said.
“We were due in at Sydney at 8.10 in the morning and never arrived until midday.”
“Never” arrived….it was only 4hrs late?!:rolleyes:
By: Bmused55 - 17th January 2010 at 10:38
I surprised no American pax were interviewed. Their statements would probably have been something like:
“They told us we were running out of fuel. We all thought we were going to die.”
By: Arabella-Cox - 17th January 2010 at 05:51
Is it possible that, due to the distance, the flight is planned as such? (Excluding the other technical problem). I remember doing exactly that on flights where the destination was at the fuel endurance limit and there are enroute alternates.
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January 17, 2010 at 2:16 am