Twitter
Advertisement

Kingfisher flight runs out of fuel midair, almost

If you were one of the 86 passengers who travelled on Kingfisher flight IT 335 from Mumbai to Delhi, you should thank your lucky stars you are safe.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

If you were one of the 86 passengers who travelled on Kingfisher flight IT 335 from Mumbai to Delhi last Saturday, you should thank your lucky stars you are safe. Because the flight landed with a near-empty fuel tank as the pilot took an uncommon risk at 31,000 feet above the ground.

The situation
The flight left Mumbai at 7:45pm with enough additional fuel to not only reach its scheduled destination of New Delhi by 9:30pm but with enough supply for a diversion to Jaipur or Lucknow — the immediate alternative airports.

Generally when a flight lands after 9pm in winter — particularly at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport — the airline makes sure a Cat-III-trained pilot is in command. Cat-III pilots can land with just 100 metres of visibility.

The aircraft assigned for this route was an Airbus 320 and the captain was only trained for Cat-I situations, which means pilot Tariq Khan needed a minimum of 550 metres of visibility.

The incident

According to a source, minutes before landing, the air traffic control (ATC) at Delhi airport informed the pilot that visibility had dropped to Cat-III conditions, which meant the pilot would not be able to see beyond 100 metres. The source said Khan sought a landing at Jaipur, but permission was denied due to lack of parking space. Khan then decided to divert the flight to Lucknow as he had already consumed a lot of fuel hovering over Delhi.

When Khan was halfway to Lucknow, which is 55 minutes of all-weather flying time away, the Delhi ATC informed him that the fog had lifted and he could return, the source said.  

The big risk
The aircraft had consumed nearly 45% of its additional fuel by this time, the source said. Instead of opting to land at Lucknow, refuel, and fly back to Delhi, Khan decided to head back to the capital.  

Once he reached Delhi, he was ninth in the landing queue. By now, the plane was dangerously low on fuel with just a few kilolitres left in the tank. A crisis was averted only after the pilot asked the ATC to allow him to jump the queue.

What Kingfisher says

Confirming the incident, Kingfisher spokesperson Prakash Mirpuri told DNA on Monday that the pilot did ask for preferential landing at Delhi as he was running low on fuel. The aircraft was in the queue for landing when visibility at Delhi dropped. The captain then requested a diversion to an alternate designated airfield, which was Jaipur. As the parking bays were full, the aircraft was diverted to Lucknow, Mirpuri said.

“En route Lucknow the weather deteriorated. Consequently, the aircraft was turned back to Delhi and the captain requested priority sequencing for landing,” Mirpuri said in his written communication to DNA.

Kingfisher’s flight safety department summoned captain Khan to seek an explanation on Sunday. Mirpuri termed it a “routine enquiry” by the department whenever there was a deviation from the assigned route.

What is the Cat?
There are three categories of instrument-landing systems which support similarly named categories of operation.
Category I: A precision instrument approach and landing with a decision height not lower than 61m above touchdown zone elevation and with a visibility not less than 800m or a runway visual range not less than 550m.

Category II: Decision height can be lower than 61m above touchdown zone elevation but not lower than 30m and a runway visual range not less than 350m.

Category IIIA: A precision instrument approach and landing with a decision height lower than 30m above touchdown zone elevation, or no decision height; and a runway visual range not less than 200m.

Category IIIB: Decision height can be lower than 15m above touchdown zone elevation, or no decision height; and a runway visual range less than 200m but not less than 50m.

Category IIIC: A precision instrument approach and landing with no decision height and no runway visual range limitations. A Cat IIIC system is capable of using an aircraft’s autopilot to land the aircraft and can also provide guidance along the runway surface.
In each case a suitably equipped aircraft and appropriately qualified crew are required.
Source: Wikipedia

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement