Virgin: AFL winners!
 

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MEMBERS of the Gold Coast AFL team have been involved in a mid-air drama with a “technical issue” causing their Launceston flight to be diverted to Hobart.

The Suns were forced to catch a bus to Launceston tonight ahead of Saturday’s round 13 clash with Hawthorn after the unspecified problem on their Virgin*Australia*flight.

Suns captain Gary Ablett announced the late landing on*Twitter.

“Was supposed to land in Launceston 2 hours ago….. Just landed in Hobart,” he*said.

“Disaster….. Just got told we’re catching a bus to*launceston!”

Other comments on Twitter suggested it was a heavy*landing.

“Gee I hope I can get up for the game on Saturday! My necks still on the plane,” tweeted 19-year-old half-forward Luke*Russell.

A Virgin*Australia spokeswoman blamed a “technical issue in the cockpit” for the switch to*Hobart.

“The captain elected to divert as a precautionary measure and Hobart was the closest,” the spokeswoman*said.

She said the pilot landed without incident and the plane, with 56 people on board, was met by emergency services in accordance with standard*operating proceedures."



By the way, has anyone else noticed that the Qantas banner still flies around many AFL grounds? You'd think the AFL would be more on top of this. I was at Subi a few weeks back, no Virgin banners, only Qantas.

Pardon my stupidity in ignorance of the particular airspace but if Cooly is north of Tassy, and Launy is north of Hobart, and “The captain elected to divert as a precautionary measure and Hobart was the closest", which way were they tracking :confused::confused:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's either via ML or coastal via FLI, both of which basically converge at LT, so how did HB get "closer"?

Slow news week.

Apparantly it was a problem with the flaps so the Cap'n decided to go to Hobart due to its longer runway. (IIRC it's not that much longer but maybe it was enough to make the difference)

Held at Nile for a while before deciding to divert.

Hempy. HBA was the closest maintenance base.

Agree with Mr Hat!:ok:

Which comments are these?

My thouhts exactly rmcdonal

THANK YOU. All I was after was a sensible answer..I was taking "closest" literally without considering other implications.

Incorrect.

Virgin have engineers at Launceston and Hobart.

Step 1 Cup of Cement.
Step 2 Toughen up.

The problem/diversion doesn't really matter.

Suns will still lose, they may as well have not travelled. Ablett should never have left Geelong. Poor, poor form.

Has Jeff got Virgin on the Hawthorn payroll now? After his less than flattering remarks about VB when they got the AFL contract I would've though it would be Hawthorn that would get diverted to somewhere other than Launy.

A bit rough Mr. Hat... You've obviously forgotten about their other 'hard landings', like the one before playing Essendon, and somehow during half-time against Geelong that weren't reported... They wouldn't be fishing for excuses surely!

I thought step 2 was harden up?

Go Pies.

Opted for Toughen up for this one as he sounds like a "princess" as per the Jetstar saying (great culture).

ahh, good point and well made Hat.

I read in the minor press outlets that it was a Flap Asymmetry problem that occurred as they where configuring to land in LST which, as many will know, necessitates a landing with less than landing flap. The result of this being a high speed landing which requires more landing distance (sometimes much more - depending on the amount of flap that was able to be selected before the Asymmetry was detected and the normal system automatically shut down).

As such, landing on a short, 2 degree sloped runway (I don't personally know the WX or time of day either), is likely to be considered completely inappropriate if possible at all on the QRH figures that the crew where no doubt running while holding at position Nile.

I note the flight was a charter flight for the AFL due the ash problem and therefore very light in payload. As such perhaps HBA was sufficient. I am surprised they didn't head to MEL! But as it is a very unlikely problem, I suggest that they may have only been carrying fuel for HBA for a divert - especially in the climate of high fuel prices dictating airlines to recommend less discretionary fuel being carried unnecessarily (whatever unnecessarily means!).

Also exists the possibility that if HBA was available and suitable for this crew and this aircraft in this situation (!), flying to a point that the passengers could fairly easily continue with their business may have been a deciding factor in the minds of the crew. I hasten to add that just because there is engineering support in LST as there is in HBA, does not necessarily mean anything in instances more than just a minor non-normal.

Thats it, another one solved... What's next...

Forgetabowdit

Asymmetry is a reasonably involved procedure and a greaser on a shortish runway is the last thing you want. Sounds like the lads did a good job :ok:.

If it was the Wallabies I would be interested, aerial basketball, nah.