BA010 Diverts to URA

[dakar]

BA10 from Bangkok to Heathrow diverted into URA this am. Anyone know why?

[5711N0205W]

(URA) – Uralsk Airport – Uralsk, Kazakhstan - Guess you would not drop in there unnecessarily

[jerrystinger]

Suspected fire in hold.

[No-Speed]

Apparently in Bangkok they locked out one of the two fire detection lines due to a fault. Then diverted due to a fire warning in the hold. The airport they've landed at doesn't have much in the way of facilities...the runway isn't big enough for the 744 to get out, the steps for the pax aren't high enough, the terminal can only handle around 100 people and there are no cargo facilities...and to top it all off, the fuel at the airport is contaminated. They've sent out 2 airbuses to bring back the pax and they're stripping the 744 (G-BNLA) to get it out.

[mondriver]

Cue the smartarses asking why they ever considered diverting there....

"...oh they should have done this..."

"...they should have considered that....."



...can't wait for all the constructive critique by the flight simmers.

:mad:

[dakar]

2 airbus's for jumbo load of passengers, this should be interesting!. Understand that they have not been allowed to let any of the passengers off either.

How much needs to be stripped off the aircraft for it to be at the optimum weight?
Was a fire discovered in the hold?

[wiggy]

Well at least it's spring and the temperature is in the teen's, Celsius....It'll be interesting to see the write up on this one - particularly how quickly they were able to get the aircraft on the ground.

Some sites quote a runway length of 7800 feet for Uralsk so they should be able to get the aircraft out with fuel for Europe/London - at a guess the "stripping out" may not be a weight issue, it could possibly because now that the fire bottles have been used the aircraft cannot be flown with items in the holds...

[AN2 Driver]

According to http://www.fallingrain.com/icao/UARR.html that place has got one runway 22/04 7874/138 ft concrete, apt elevation 125 ft.

UARR 151500Z 34002MPS 9999 SCT050CB OVC/// 18/10 Q1010 NOSIG RMK 22090070

So what RTOW would you calculate for these conditions? 2400 x 42 m is a tad narrow and short for a 744 but with the SLF gone, it should be able to get out of there without ripping too much of the furniture? Anyone got some IRT's handy?

From a dispatch point of view, depending on how much fuel he's still got on board, Moscow is about 1:30 hours away, say, about 30 tons block with 200 t ZFW, less if they manage to empty it. So between 210 to 240 tons TOW, will that do for 2400 meters and, conservatively said, 20° C? Obviously, obstacle, 2nd segment e.t.c. to be considered.

[dakar]

As the airfield is not equipped to handle a B747, how are they going to remove the baggage/cargo from the holds.

[Taildragger]

With a half decent large forklift, a few containers can be offloaded and the others moved around like one of those hand held puzzles that were around when I was a lad. The baggage can then be offloaded and sent down on a conveyor if one is around. Same with cargo. Then a 707F he said Airbi to take it away. Not fast, but certainly doable. If I knew more about the gear around the place I could comment better, but these Eastern Bloc airports tend to have a lot of really heavy duty stuff around. They tend not to go for expensive FMS equipment.!
As for the Bees.? Dunno.....ask me one on sport. :}

[luoto]

What exactly does it mean by contaiminated fuel? And how could they be using it at an airfield if contaminated ?

[chevvron]

Springbok operated a 74 out of Farnborough with 1800m LDA and 2000m TORA x 45m wide.