One issue is that both crew in the Mildura incident did not request the TAFs, only the current METARs. That was one of the issues highlighted by the ATSB, they only requested and received the current METAR which was pre the low cloud and fog rolling in. The current TAF had a Tempo for BKN Cloud at 600 feet, which means a 60 minute fuel requirement for any arriving aircraft. The SPECI was passed to both aircraft while they were busy talking on other frequencies and not followed up. Both aircraft landed well before 60 minutes holding had expired.
There is no point asking for current conditions if diverting to a place that has deterioration on the forecast, the current conditions only tell you what is happening at that point in time, not at arrival time. The Met run down in that report shows why it was forecast as low cloud rather than fog and why they got it wrong. In any case both aircraft should have had 60 minutes on arrival + at least 30 minutes reserves.
The 60 minute requirement had been there all morning as well.
I mean basically you are saying that you would not divert due fuel because the forecast at any of these locations might be wrong. And we are saying now that QF has no alternates in the Perth area including Kalgoorlie or Busselton with no stairs for a 737, this just sounds silly as how did this 737 get to Perth with barely reserves and traffic holding without some sort of contingency fuel as well. I can only think it was holding YPKG initially en-route and shifting to YPPH as it reconsidered variables. I would say Pearce has 737 capable stairs as they handle RAAF 737.
Last edited by 43Inches; 26th Jul 2022 at 02:03.