RAF A400 declares an emergency and diverts to Marseille
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RAF A400 declares an emergency and diverts to Marseille
A nice day out for the boys..
In the last few moments, a Royal Air Force (RAF) Airbus A400M from Akrotiri has declared an emergency over the South of France and has diverted to Marseille.ZM411 is the aircraft in question operating RRR4995, and looks to have been heading back to the UK, potentially Brize Norton or another base.
At this stage, it is unclear what the cause of the emergency is, but stay tuned for further updates.
UPDATE #1 @ 1802 UK time – The Royal Air Force (RAF) A400M is currently descending through 13,000 feet and looks to be heading in the direction of Montpellier. Diversion Airport is to be confirmed shortly.
UPDATE #2 @ 1805 UK time – RRR4995 is descending rapidly as it aims to meet the straight-in approach for Montpellier Airport, France.
UPDATE #3 @ 1807 UK time – ZM411 has now taken a steep turn right, so it could very well be Marseille that the aircraft is aiming for at this time.
UPDATE #4 @ 1809 UK time – ZM411 is now turning onto short final for Marseille Provence Airport (MRS/LFML).
UPDATE #5 @ 1814 UK time – ZM411 of the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) A400M fleet has landed safely into Marseille Provence Airport, France. AviationSource will approach the RAF for a comment on the cause of the emergency.
At this stage, it is unclear what the cause of the emergency is, but stay tuned for further updates.
UPDATE #1 @ 1802 UK time – The Royal Air Force (RAF) A400M is currently descending through 13,000 feet and looks to be heading in the direction of Montpellier. Diversion Airport is to be confirmed shortly.
UPDATE #2 @ 1805 UK time – RRR4995 is descending rapidly as it aims to meet the straight-in approach for Montpellier Airport, France.
UPDATE #3 @ 1807 UK time – ZM411 has now taken a steep turn right, so it could very well be Marseille that the aircraft is aiming for at this time.
UPDATE #4 @ 1809 UK time – ZM411 is now turning onto short final for Marseille Provence Airport (MRS/LFML).
UPDATE #5 @ 1814 UK time – ZM411 of the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) A400M fleet has landed safely into Marseille Provence Airport, France. AviationSource will approach the RAF for a comment on the cause of the emergency.
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Yes, last night, but there you go, you can't please everyone, can you, and as for one hour ahead, I take it you missed the UK TIME part.
Why all the fuss..........??
In my day, the Truckie Fleet used to divert into anywhere on the South Coast of France, or Nassau - or anywhere with good hotels and outrageous overnight subsistence opportunities.
We poor souls used to carry on with just about any snags to end up at our destination and the wonderful military accommodation - and no subsistence opportunities.
I really should have paid more attention at school.
In my day, the Truckie Fleet used to divert into anywhere on the South Coast of France, or Nassau - or anywhere with good hotels and outrageous overnight subsistence opportunities.
We poor souls used to carry on with just about any snags to end up at our destination and the wonderful military accommodation - and no subsistence opportunities.
I really should have paid more attention at school.
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I really should have paid less attention at school.
The OP has obviously forgotten the days of the VC10, when the entire fleet could be spread across European cities at the same time. each in various states of repair. I seem to recall waiting for a VC10 from Akrotiri in the mid 90's, which went U/S. The replacement went U/S, and a third arrived with spares, only to go U/S and join the other two as 'apron decorations'.
Why all the fuss..........??
In my day, the Truckie Fleet used to divert into anywhere on the South Coast of France, or Nassau - or anywhere with good hotels and outrageous overnight subsistence opportunities.
We poor souls used to carry on with just about any snags to end up at our destination and the wonderful military accommodation - and no subsistence opportunities.
I really should have paid more attention at school.
In my day, the Truckie Fleet used to divert into anywhere on the South Coast of France, or Nassau - or anywhere with good hotels and outrageous overnight subsistence opportunities.
We poor souls used to carry on with just about any snags to end up at our destination and the wonderful military accommodation - and no subsistence opportunities.
I really should have paid more attention at school.
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There, fixed it for you
The OP has obviously forgotten the days of the VC10, when the entire fleet could be spread across European cities at the same time. each in various states of repair. I seem to recall waiting for a VC10 from Akrotiri in the mid 90's, which went U/S. The replacement went U/S, and a third arrived with spares, only to go U/S and join the other two as 'apron decorations'.
The OP has obviously forgotten the days of the VC10, when the entire fleet could be spread across European cities at the same time. each in various states of repair. I seem to recall waiting for a VC10 from Akrotiri in the mid 90's, which went U/S. The replacement went U/S, and a third arrived with spares, only to go U/S and join the other two as 'apron decorations'.
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Why all the fuss..........??
In my day, the Truckie Fleet used to divert into anywhere on the South Coast of France, or Nassau - or anywhere with good hotels and outrageous overnight subsistence opportunities.
We poor souls used to carry on with just about any snags to end up at our destination and the wonderful military accommodation - and no subsistence opportunities.
I really should have paid more attention at school.
In my day, the Truckie Fleet used to divert into anywhere on the South Coast of France, or Nassau - or anywhere with good hotels and outrageous overnight subsistence opportunities.
We poor souls used to carry on with just about any snags to end up at our destination and the wonderful military accommodation - and no subsistence opportunities.
I really should have paid more attention at school.
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Yes, like the C-130 that I watched take off on three, after a number of attempts to bumpstart the other one, away from the rather shabby Belize. The crew didn’t notice until near Nassau, where they diverted some time later.
Other clues that only 3 were turning that even the dimmest of crews would not be able to miss include the engine gauges not lining up (Flt Engineers were particularly hot on this) and the aircraft departing off the side of the runway during the take-off roll (a 3 engine take-off required special handling to counter the yaw from the asymmetric engine).
Most likely it was a planned diversion into Nassau due to perf issues rather than a desire to get into a better hotel. Without knowing the specifics it might have been an operational issue that didn’t allow them to stay in Belize but I very much doubt they were just trying for an upgrade. I quite liked Belize especially if you could get out to the Keys.
During my rather lengthy time on the transport fleet (K, J & A400) I broke down many times, often in nice places but also in some sh**holes and I never carried a fault on to try and break in a better place nor did I ever hear of anyone else doing so. I was once broken at Cape Canaveral on the day the shuttle was due to land, we would have had a grandstand view as it passed over us to land. My engineers fixed the ac just in time for us to get out before the embargo started, I could have delayed to see it but I had pax and a task to complete so we left. I still ask myself why? though!!
As for the A400 diverting to Marseille they would have had a very strong flight safety reason to do so, they might even have been away for a prolonged period on an Op Shader det and gagging to get home so it’s rather pathetic to insinuate they just wanted a night in Marseille. They will most likely be in the airport hotel anyway even if they can find HOTAC at all given that it’s summer.
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One was referring to the Engineers possibly popping over to fix it and NOT the crew!
They should have gone for Montpelier. When I landed there last summer I was met by an extremely smart lady with a minibus to look after us. Highly recommended!
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When I was working as an Ops Controller at lovely Thorney Island, it wasn't unusual to get a call in the wee small hours of a C-130 u/s away. Get up, open ops, find duty storeman and duty driver. Organise part to go on appropriate BA flight etc. The worst bit was at the end of the signal. "Captain contactable Castle Harbour Hotel, Bermuda". 
Bermuda is an island in the Atlantic, not the Caribbean. The weather there is rubbish for much of the year, and it's not really a beach destination. It was most famous as an offshore bank location in my time.
One the one occasion I stayed there everything was so expensive that a days allowances could only buy a burger and chips.
It's far better than Grimsby, but I can think of many better places to be u/s awaiting spares.
One the one occasion I stayed there everything was so expensive that a days allowances could only buy a burger and chips.
It's far better than Grimsby, but I can think of many better places to be u/s awaiting spares.
Wot! RAF aircrew not taking advantage of the available opportunities - how disappointing!
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I think it’s fairly reasonable to assume that they had noticed especially given the attempts to windmill start it on the ground…
Other clues that only 3 were turning that even the dimmest of crews would not be able to miss include the engine gauges not lining up (Flt Engineers were particularly hot on this) and the aircraft departing off the side of the runway during the take-off roll (a 3 engine take-off required special handling to counter the yaw from the asymmetric engine).
Other clues that only 3 were turning that even the dimmest of crews would not be able to miss include the engine gauges not lining up (Flt Engineers were particularly hot on this) and the aircraft departing off the side of the runway during the take-off roll (a 3 engine take-off required special handling to counter the yaw from the asymmetric engine).
They had tried for some time to get the troublesome engine going. When I said bump start, I was referring to the aircraft later running at high speed down the runway at Airport Camp to get the prop turning in the desperate hope of making another start attempt successful. I understand this was a technique successfully used elsewhere. Obviously, by rights they ought to have chosen to go “u/s” and remain where they were but instead they finally departed with one prop feathered. I was there on detachment at the time. It was quite a talking point amongst the various aircrew at the time and I learned later where it had diverted. There is a bit more to this story. I was involved in a similar one in Belize where I had to obtain a very senior officer’s clearance to fly a twin engined helicopter on one, to avoid what could easily have been a very politically embarrassing operational situation.
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Maggie went VIP out to the USA in a VC10, they had an engine issue, so they locked one and came back on three (Trident?) on the way home they had issues with another, so shut it down and arrived back on two ( BAC 111?) after that it was forbidden to carry passengers on the VC10 with an engine locked IIRC.
Sandbag Warning: Red..
We had a Shack go U/S at Boeing Field of all
places with a dead donk.
“Wayhay”, thought most of us, “it’ll be at least a week to get a spare out!”
Sadly Boeing Field is rather small and we were blocking the delivery of the RAF’s first shiny AWACS, so the Boss had us try bump starts on their very short runway. We got to “one more go then we’ll give up” when the beggar started. Down the road at McChord it started up again no problem and that put paid to our extended sojourn…
We had a Shack go U/S at Boeing Field of all
places with a dead donk.
“Wayhay”, thought most of us, “it’ll be at least a week to get a spare out!”
Sadly Boeing Field is rather small and we were blocking the delivery of the RAF’s first shiny AWACS, so the Boss had us try bump starts on their very short runway. We got to “one more go then we’ll give up” when the beggar started. Down the road at McChord it started up again no problem and that put paid to our extended sojourn…