Kharon’s post IMHO on the YMIA thread was spot on and needs regurgitating because of the significant relevance to this thread, see
#287.
Some on that thread believe that Kharon is denigrating the efforts of the crew but IMO “K” is just pointing out the possible holes in the Swiss cheese and living in hope we get the bureau of old to explore
all the systemic issues involved so that industry can learn from what was best described by the Mildura Airport CEO Bill Burke
.."I don't think half the people involved know how serious this incident was.”
I also find a deal of irony in the Sun Herald article when compared to the Norfolk ditching reports that came out soon after the incident occurred,
‘example’.
And the Sun Herald report:
Pilot who flew in low visibility while running out of fuel praised for safe landing
A VIRGIN Australia flight with 91 people aboard was forced to land because it was running out of fuel.
Flight VA 1384 from Brisbane to Adelaide, on June 18, had less than 800kg of fuel when it landed at Mildura after an aborted attempt due to heavy fog.
Aviation sources said this was not enough fuel to allow a safe attempt at another go-around, owing to the high fuel burn of a jet pulling out of an aborted landing.
Mildura airport CEO Bill Burke, who is also a commercial pilot, said the Virgin pilot should be given a medal.
"It (the flight) was committed - it didn't have enough fuel to do another go-around," he said.
"I don't think half the people involved know how serious this incident was.
"It was committed: they were going to be on the ground in one form or another - either safely, on three wheels, or as a smoking wreck at the end of the runway. That sounds dramatic but it's true. It's factual."
The pilot declared a fuel emergency and landed despite fog obscuring his vision until the plane was just 25m above the ground. This was below the usual visual requirement of around 120m.
Despite flying "blind", the plane landed safely and the 86 passengers, who had been ordered into the brace position, were not injured.
Virgin spokeswoman Jacqui Abbott confirmed there was an investigation into the safe landing of the plane at Mildura.
"Virgin Australia is co-operating fully with the ATSB (Australian Transport Safety Bureau) to determine the full circumstances surrounding this event and it would be inappropriate to further comment on the ATSB's ongoing investigation," Ms Abbott said.
The plane, a year-old Boeing 737-800, was briefly grounded pending engineering checks.
The pilot was using RNAV - an on-board computer system which assists the pilot with landing at specific airports.
The ATSB has listed the incident as "serious" and is investigating.
The investigation will look at the operations of the automatic weather station at the Mildura Airport.
The weather bureau believes it was working, but there was a fault with how the station's information was distributed.
The Herald Sun can reveal a NOTAM (notice to airmen) had been issued two weeks before the incident advising that no information was available from the station.
Sources also said a weather forecast issued by the bureau before the flight landed at Mildura advised of broken cloud at 3400 feet and no fog.
The flight was diverted to Mildura after being unable to land at Adelaide owing to heavy fog, as did an Adelaide-bound Qantas 737 from Sydney. The Qantas flight landed in slightly better conditions minutes ahead of the Virgin flight, and its pilots radioed the Virgin pilots to advise there was visibility closer to the ground.
The ATSB is investigating what information was provided by the weather bureau, and what information the Virgin operations centre passed to the five-member crew flying VA 1384.
Mr Burke said he was in the airport terminal listening to the radio transmission, and he could hear the engines of the flight as it did a go-around and came in for the final landing.
"I didn't see it. The fog was unbelievably thick - the thickest I've ever seen in my life.
"That pilot did an incredible job of interpreting all the information.
"He should get a medal."
He confirmed that about two weeks before the incident, a notice had been issued that the automated weather station at Mildura was out of service.
The ATSB said its investigation would involve a "review of the relevant radio and radar data" and an "examination of the relevant weather observations and forecasts", among other matters.
The Virgin flight's "black box" voice recordings have been seized as part of the routine inquiries.
Hmm also wondering given the seriousness of this incident if like the Norfolk investigation whether CAsA will/have initiated a parallel investigation (as per the MOU)??
If that is the case perhaps VA or the Flightcrew’s union should be asking for full transparency from CAsA’s ‘Accident Liaison Investigation Unit’, as we all now know what happens if these people are left to their own devices. You only need refer to, what was largely a ‘hidden’ document (before the Senate Inquiry),
‘CAsA Accident Investigation Report 09/3’ (pdf page 65 onwards) to see how the facts can be blurred from the fiction.
Here is a relevant sub-paragraph for both incidents from CAIR 09/3 (the hidden report):
1.18.4 Weather updates received in-flight
The Captain received an in-flight weather report at 0801 which indicated that the weather at Norfolk Island had deteriorated below the minima conditions which required the holding of an alternate aerodrome. The weather report indicated only a very small difference of 2 degrees between the current temperature and the dew point (21/19).
And here is the METAR/SPECI record around the time of the YMIA incident (take note of the temps):
METAR YPAD 172030Z 08005KT 9999 FEW022 05/05 Q1019 NOSIG
METAR YPAD 172100Z 05004KT 9999 FEW022 05/05 Q1019 NOSIG
SPECI YPAD 172111Z 06005KT 9999 MIFG FEW022 SCT058 05/05 Q1020 NOSIG
METAR YPAD 172130Z 06004KT 9999 MIFG FEW022 05/04 Q1020 NOSIG
SPECI YPAD 172130Z 06004KT 9999 MIFG FEW022 05/04 Q1020 NOSIG
SPECI YPAD 172200Z 01006KT 9999 1000NW PRFG MIFG FEW022 05/05 Q1020 FM2200 01005KT 0500 FG FM2300 05005KT 9999 FEW025
SPECI YPAD 172205Z 01006KT 2000 0500N FG FEW022 05/04 Q1020 FM2205 01005KT 0500 FG FM2300 05005KT 9999 FEW025
SPECI YPAD 172215Z 02006KT 0500 0250N FG OVC001 05/04 Q1020 FM2300 05005KT 9999 FEW025
SPECI YPAD 172230Z 04005KT 0150 FG OVC001 06/05 Q1020 FM2300 05005KT 9999 FEW025
METAR YPAD 172230Z 04005KT 0150 FG OVC001 06/05 Q1020 FM2300 05005KT 9999 FEW025
SPECI YPAD 172300Z 04006KT 0150 FG OVC000 06/06 Q1021 FM2330 05005KT 9999 FEW025
METAR YPAD 172300Z 04006KT 0150 FG OVC000 06/06 Q1021 FM2330 05005KT 9999 FEW025
SPECI YPAD 172330Z 04005KT 0150 FG OVC000 07/07 Q1021 FM2400 05005KT 9999 FEW025
METAR YPAD 180000Z 01005KT 0150 FG OVC000 08/07 Q1021 FM0100 05005KT 9999 FEW025
SPECI YPAD 180000Z 01005KT 0150 FG OVC000 08/07 Q1021 FM0100 05005KT 9999 FEW025
SPECI YPAD 180030Z 01004KT 0150 FG OVC000 08/08 Q1022 FM0100 05005KT 9999 FEW025
SPECI YPAD 180100Z 03001KT 0500 0350N FG OVC001 09/09 Q1022 FM0130 05005KT 9999 FEW025
The only split that I can see in that lot is in the negative (1 degree) from 0600 CST till 1030 CST….hmm doin a Kelpie…
ps Nick good luck with the disallowance motion!
