EY450

[jb747]

Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi to Sydney makes emergency landing at ...

 

[Saab34]

Unfortunately these incidents usually result in a long period of disorganised choas for the passengers when they divert to a airport that they don’t operate to. Especially in the middle of the night at a curfew operated airport, the airport would have been a ghost town.

Looks like pax went out on QF/VA to Sydney in the arvo and some on tomorrow’s flights.

 

[jb747]

As I've said before, talking to the passengers, whether to hold their hands, or to tell them they're about to meet their maker, is not high on a pilot's priority list. Looking at FR24, I see it as them turning pretty well immediately towards the nearest airfield, and simultaneously getting into the descent. So, in the coughpit you've got the ECAM being actioned, the diversion being planned/loaded/flown simultaneously. It would be busy. PR has zero place within this.

The approach has been flown with a high speed maintained for quite a while, so they've seen an imperative to get on the ground, which is totally the right course of action with any form of cargo or electronics bay smoke detection. There is no fire detection!

Conversely, I don't see the need to have used the slides and parked on the taxiway. Once on the ground, as long as there is no secondary indication, the risk subsides a bit.

A cargo fire is an event that most pilots would consider their worst case nightmare.

 

[Saab34]

As I've said before, talking to the passengers, whether to hold their hands, or to tell them they're about to meet their maker, is not high on a pilot's priority list. Looking at FR24, I see it as them turning pretty well immediately towards the nearest airfield, and simultaneously getting into the descent. So, in the coughpit you've got the ECAM being actioned, the diversion being planned/loaded/flown simultaneously. It would be busy. PR has zero place within this.

The approach has been flown with a high speed maintained for quite a while, so they've seen an imperative to get on the ground, which is totally the right course of action with any form of cargo or electronics bay smoke detection. There is no fire detection!

Conversely, I don't see the need to have used the slides and parked on the taxiway. Once on the ground, as long as there is no secondary indication, the risk subsides a bit.

A cargo fire is an event that most pilots would consider their worst case nightmare.

I don’t believe the slides were used in this case (?). Bit odd they didn’t continue to the terminal, if they requested stairs it’s clear the threat wasn’t critical on the ground.

Unless Adelaide Airport has nil staff at the terminal at that hour to guide/dock them in? But then the stairs could still have been used at the terminal rather than a dark taxiway at the other end of the airport.

+1 for getting it down ASAP. Compared to one certain foreign low cost who has on multiple times pushed on to a company operated airport.

 

[jb747]

Looks like you're right. I just looked at the still, and not the video. In any event, I'm nit picking. As best I can tell, they did the right things in flight. PR and PAs just don't come into it.

 

[Saab34]

I was interested to see the ATC comms behind this one so here it is, def worth a listen in. It was the Tower that requested they hold on Taxiway until cargo inspection has been completed.

Things got a little heated there. They nearly used the slides, FO (euro accent?) didn’t sound too happy with the ground team either got pretty snappy at them.

http://archive-server.liveatc.net/ypad/YPAD-Oct-13-2017-1830Z.mp3

 

[jb747]

Have you managed to find the initial declaration of emergency? About 1735Z or so. Probably on Melbourne Centre.

I suspect the Euro accent might belong to the Captain. There's a number of competing things happening here. If there is a cargo fire (or even the possibility) you do NOT open a cargo door. We hear him say that. Even though there's no secondary signs, it's not over until everyone is off. If you evacuate, you WILL hurt people, so without any secondary indication (whatever that happens to be), you won't evacuate. By the same token, if a fire exists, and the retardant is unable to control it, then it could get worse very quickly indeed.

I'm not too sure I'd be all that keen on waiting for the stairs to come to me. The aircraft can move much faster than the stairs.

 

[Saab34]

Here is the approach
http://archive-server.liveatc.net/ypad/YPAD-Oct-13-2017-1800Z.mp3

Listen in over half way in when they join Approach otherwise it’s fuzzy.

Pretty poor on ADL that get couldn’t get stairs out there they asked 20 Miles out for them.

Language Barrier at play a little here also.

The Asian Pilot was quite authoritative in the above atc so I assumed he was the Captain.

 

[jb747]

Pretty poor on ADL that get couldn’t get stairs out there they asked 20 Miles out for them.

I expect that stairs aren't a part of any airport emergency equipment. So, they'd have to find an airline with a set that would work, and then probably track down a driver...etc. The rationale would be that in the worst case the aircraft can evacuate via slides, and if they can wait 5 minutes for stairs, then they can wait 30. Places the Captain in an interesting position!

 

[Saab34]

The Asian Pilot was fairly vocal in the first 60 seconds when they stopped on the runway and giving orders to the Fire Inspector in which I assumed he was the skipper. He sounded in control.

 

[Melburnian1]

Given that one might expect outbound flights from Oz to be at least 80 per cent full, how long will it take to 'clear' the passengers who today could not travel on what became a cancelled EY451 (latish afternoon from SYD to AUH?)

 

[Saab34]

Given that one might expect outbound flights from Oz to be at least 80 per cent full, how long will it take to 'clear' the passengers who today could not travel on what became a cancelled EY451 (latish afternoon from SYD to AUH?)

They pushed a large amount down to Melbourne to join the evening A380, some went to BNE and the rest on the evening A380 out of Sydney. Helps having Virgin as a partner.

 

[jb747]

I still think it's the FO, the Captain is quiet until he thinks they need a push. ATC get the evacuation confused. He says early on that he'll only do that if there is a secondary sign.

It's not really a great situation. Within the aircraft they'd be on a hair trigger to evacuate...so a couple of wrong words on the radio could have unforeseen outcomes. The fire crews are pretty definite in their calls, which is what is needed.

 

[Saab34]

I still think it's the FO, the Captain is quiet until he thinks they need a push.

Yeah I think you might be right. I probably just expect the Captain to be a lot more vocal in these sort of events (he only spoke once or twice throughout the whole event on the radio), but I assume they have their head down at instruments, out windows, giving the FO orders, just assessing the situation in general without worrying about radios.

 

[jb747]

Crew management in these events is always interesting. If you back up to around the time the event first happened, you might even have had the coughpit splitting in two for a while, with one bloke looking after the EICAS and cabin, whilst the other is totally devoted to getting the diversion happening. At other times it might all be handled together, but the pilot flying could be either the Captain or FO...it really depends on whether the Captain wants to handle the flying himself, or the problem. In QF30, I left Bernie to fly, whilst I did the systems. QF32 was the other way around.

The landing will almost invariably be done by the Captain, so any radio you hear on approach will be the FO.

 

[Must...Fly!]

I admit I have not listened to the approach recording but I thought it was the European as the F/O, and the Captain had taken back the comms because of the tension developing between the tower and aircraft. Could easily be the other way round as above though, I didn't really consider that option.

As for the stairs...landing at 0454, you've got to find an airline or handler with a 777 ready set of stairs and someone to tow/drive them. Right in the middle of head start, I can see why it would take a while.

 

[Anna]

I was interested to hear about this on the radio news when I woke up that day, because living under the flight path that goes over Medindie - North Adelaide, I normally hear it when a jet goes overhead at an unusual hour. I'm assuming they must have come in to land over the sea? But when I'm a pax on a plane that does that, it always seems to take longer to get into position from that direction so I'm wondering why they would have done that in an emergency situation. Surely emergency trumps curfew? Or maybe I just slept through it for once.

 

[jb747]

You slept through it....