Interesting Night At YPPH - 'EASTERLIES"....

[FlareArmed]

I recall an A320 FO telling me about an approach into Perth in Ansett days. The 1000' wind (yes one thousand feet) was 120 kts. The turbulence was so bad, coming over the hills, eyeball-bounce meant they could not read any instruments, but the auto-pilot kept them on the rails.

I've seen many crappy days, but the worst was 70 kts of cross-wind at 500' (30 kts on the ground). The drift on becoming visual at 500' was something to behold. The FO called out that he couldn't see the runway. I told him to look out his side window, and sure enough...

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

So, Didja...'Land'..??

Or...'Commit to the Earth' due turb..!!

Cheers

[FlareArmed]

The A320 landed without more drama. I think the Captain was the Fleet Manager. My approach was uneventful if not peculiar to see 30 or 40 degrees of drift when popping out of the cloud. It helped having a path-finder B737 a couple of minutes ahead

[The The]

Don't worry Wang, the Carbon Tax will fix any weather anomalies, it'll be min fuel all the time, no drama!

[inandout]

for VA 737 max xwind dry 45m RW is 40kts, if wind was 110/40 x wind is only 30kts, below max for RW 06.

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

Heard on the audio,
Twr is reporting max x/wind 40 kts RWY 06....

Anyway...its all 'academic'. The aircraft landed, the PIC took taxiway W and called 'ground' for taxy cnce. - exactly as he said he would....

'Twas an 'interesting' night none-the-less......

[Transition Layer]

Interesting inandout...at QF it's a 33kt limit for the 738 (and the Classic is slightly higher at 35kt due no winglets).

[porch monkey]

I think 33 kts is the max demonstrated. Think that's what appears in the fcom. As usual, each airline does whatever it wants to, or can get away with I guess.

[Capt Basil Brush]

Are you guys talking about take off or landing Xwind limits? They are different.

737NG landing Xwind limit is 40kts wet or dry, take off with winglets 34kts dry, 25kts wet.

[heated ice detector]

Quite agree with you Captain k, I think you are mixing up the fictional alledged talked about ditching with the 330 incident which sounds like a very similar situation as the DJ one.
Whenever as a fare paying passenger I do expect the airline I am with to carry enough fuel so that it does not involve a " down to the last approach senario ".
Is there a mechanism in place which reminds pilots of Perth's local pear shaped weather

[Capt Claret]

Is there a mechanism in place which reminds pilots of Perth's local pear shaped weather

Yep, it's having to fly for hours over the GAFA just to get there.

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

Re; - 'Is there a mechanism in place which reminds pilots of Perth's local pear shaped weather'

TTF METAR YPPH......Trend type Fcst...can be obtained 'en route'....

[Capn Bloggs]

There is also a note in ERSA.

[Captain Nomad]

Re; - 'Is there a mechanism in place which reminds pilots of Perth's local pear shaped weather'

TTF METAR YPPH......Trend type Fcst...can be obtained 'en route'....

Ah yes, and then there are the times when I was glad I wasn't relying on that when the forecast had PROB FG because the TTFs were updated with no fog, no fog, no fog, then BANG - fog! Not with a from period but here right now with viz down to X metres - no warning provided by TTF.

Fog, she be a fickle wiley foe...

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

Aye Capt N,

As I've said elsewhere....
Had a couple of 727's into YPKG from time to time, 'in dem good ole days of F.S.', to pick up more 'go juice' because of the unforecast fog in PH....

They were 'interesting' nights as well. And 'Profitable' for the O/T of being called out....

And on one particular night, post midnight, on the T/O towards Boulder (Old airport / runway) it fairly 'CRACKLED" as it went over the fence at a very low level after rotation, and crackled its way into the crisp night air....

Half the lights of Boulder came on immediately!!

Then the phone started....LUVLY IT WERE!!!

Cheers

[Fred Gassit]

As a kid growing up under that old runway I learnt very early when fog was forming.

[LMFAO]

Come on fellas. The fictionally ditching of a 330 was incorrect. It was a 767 on its way to Perth and it is fact. It has spoken about in CRM courses. When the wx are bad due fog you can always autoland.

[neville_nobody]

Care to substantiate your comments about ATC being generally poor and unpredictable compared to.... The rest of the world?

Unannounced holding; speed up slow down; min speed in the cruise to 10000' followed by track shortening and keep your speed up for as long a possible; excessive separation limitations, no speed control to speak of, 20 to run that ends up being 35, traffic holding on a quiet blue skies Saturday Afternoon......

If you look at what goes on in Europe and the USA Australia is a joke. Now they handle all their traffic through weather that we don't even get in Australia. We should have one the best countries in the world to fly in. Great weather, Massive land area and low density of traffic. Instead we have to many stupid rules and regulations and not enough smart rules and very little infrastructure which just increases the stress levels for all involved.

The fact that legally this flight could have planned to land at Perth with fixed reserve should make us question what we are doing.

[Red Jet]

As a kid growing up under that old runway I learnt very early when fog was forming.

Growing up in Yorkshire must 'ave been harder then we could have imagined

[Capn Bloggs]

Nice rant that one, NN. You almost had me convinced until I read this gem:

Massive land area and low density of traffic.

You must have read "what's wrong with Australian Aviation" by Dick Smith/LeadSlead!