Delta Pilots experience during the earthquake
03-29-2011, 04:02 PM
#1
Super Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Crystal River Florida
Posts: 9,785
Here is an interesting write up of one Delta Pilot's
experience during the earthquake.
This is off of a flyer forum - interesting story.
Subject: Flying into Japan's Earthquake
I'm currently still in one piece, writing from my room in
the Narita crew hotel. It's 8am. This is my inaugural trans-pacific trip as a brand new, recently checked out, international XXX Captain and it has been interesting, to say the least, so far. I've crossed the Atlantic three times so far so the ocean crossing procedures were familiar.
By the way, stunning scenery flying over the Aleutian
Islands. Everything was going fine until 100 miles out from Tokyo and in the descent for arrival. The first indication of any trouble was that Japan air traffic control started putting everyone into holding patterns. At first we thought it was usual congestion on arrival. Then we got a company data link message advising about the earthquake,followed by another stating Narita airport was temporarily closed for inspection and expected to open shortly (the company is always so positive).
From our perspective things were obviously looking a little different.
The Japanese controller's anxiety level seemed quite high and he said expect "indefinite" holding time. No one would commit to a time frame on that so I got my copilot and relief pilot busy looking at divert stations and our fuel situation, which, after an ocean crossing is typically low.
It wasn't long, maybe ten minutes, before the first pilots
started requesting diversions to other airports. Air Canada,
American, United, etc. all reporting minimal fuel situations. I still had enough fuel for 1.5 to 2.0 hours of holding. Needless to say, the diverts started complicating the situation.
Japan air traffic control then announced Narita was closed indefinitely due to damage. Planes immediately started requesting arrivals into Haneda, near Tokyo, a half dozen JAL and western planes got clearance in that direction but then ATC announced Haneda had just
closed. Uh oh! Now instead of just holding, we all had to start looking at more distant alternatives like Osaka, or Nagoya.
One bad thing about a large airliner is that you can't just
be-bop into any little airport. We generally need lots of runway. With more planes piling in from both east and west, all needing a place to land and several now fuel critical ATC was getting over-whelmed. In the scramble,
and without waiting for my fuel to get critical, I got my
flight a clearance to head for Nagoya, fuel situation still okay. So far so good.
A few minutes into heading that way, I was "ordered" by ATC to reverse course. Nagoya was saturated with traffic and unable to handle more planes (read-airport full). Ditto for Osaka.
With that statement, my situation went instantly from fuel okay, to fuel minimal considering we might have to divert a much farther distance.
Multiply my situation by a dozen other aircraft all in the
same boat, all making demands requests and threats to ATC for clearances somewhere.
Air Canada and then someone else went to "emergency" fuel situation.
Planes started to heading for air force bases. The nearest
to Tokyo was Yokoda AFB. I threw my hat in the ring for that initially.The answer - Yokoda closed! no more space.
By now it was a three ring circus in the cockpit, my copilot on the radios, me flying and making decisions and the relief copilot buried in the air charts trying to figure out where to go that was within range while data link messages were flying back and forth between us and company dispatch in Atlanta. I picked Misawa AFB at the
north end of Honshu island. We could get there with minimal fuel remaining. ATC was happy to get rid of us so we cleared out of the maelstrom of the Tokyo region. We heard ATC try to send planes toward Sendai, a small regional airport on the coast which was later the one I think that got flodded by a tsunami.
Atlanta dispatch then sent us a message asking if we could continue to Chitose airport on the Island of Hokkaido, north of Honshu.
Other Delta planes were heading that way. More scrambling in the cockpit- check weather, check charts, check fuel, okay. We could still make it and not
be going into a fuel critical situation ... if we had no
other fuel delays. As we approached Misawa we got clearance to continue to Chitose.
Critical decision thought process. Let's see - trying to
help company - plane overflies perfectly good divert airport for one farther away...wonder how that will look in the safety report, if anything goes wrong.
Suddenly ATC comes up and gives us a vector to a fix well short of Chitose and tells us to standby for holding instructions.
Nightmare realized. Situation rapidly deteriorating. After initially holding near Tokyo, starting a divert to Nagoya, reversing course back toTokyo then to re-di verting north toward Misawa, all that happy fuel reserve that I had was vaporizing fast. My subsequent conversation,paraphrased of course...., went something like this:
"Sapparo Control - Delta XX requesting immediate clearance direct to Chitose,minimum fuel, unable hold."
"Negative Ghost-Rider, the Pattern is full"
experience during the earthquake.
This is off of a flyer forum - interesting story.
Subject: Flying into Japan's Earthquake
I'm currently still in one piece, writing from my room in
the Narita crew hotel. It's 8am. This is my inaugural trans-pacific trip as a brand new, recently checked out, international XXX Captain and it has been interesting, to say the least, so far. I've crossed the Atlantic three times so far so the ocean crossing procedures were familiar.
By the way, stunning scenery flying over the Aleutian
Islands. Everything was going fine until 100 miles out from Tokyo and in the descent for arrival. The first indication of any trouble was that Japan air traffic control started putting everyone into holding patterns. At first we thought it was usual congestion on arrival. Then we got a company data link message advising about the earthquake,followed by another stating Narita airport was temporarily closed for inspection and expected to open shortly (the company is always so positive).
From our perspective things were obviously looking a little different.
The Japanese controller's anxiety level seemed quite high and he said expect "indefinite" holding time. No one would commit to a time frame on that so I got my copilot and relief pilot busy looking at divert stations and our fuel situation, which, after an ocean crossing is typically low.
It wasn't long, maybe ten minutes, before the first pilots
started requesting diversions to other airports. Air Canada,
American, United, etc. all reporting minimal fuel situations. I still had enough fuel for 1.5 to 2.0 hours of holding. Needless to say, the diverts started complicating the situation.
Japan air traffic control then announced Narita was closed indefinitely due to damage. Planes immediately started requesting arrivals into Haneda, near Tokyo, a half dozen JAL and western planes got clearance in that direction but then ATC announced Haneda had just
closed. Uh oh! Now instead of just holding, we all had to start looking at more distant alternatives like Osaka, or Nagoya.
One bad thing about a large airliner is that you can't just
be-bop into any little airport. We generally need lots of runway. With more planes piling in from both east and west, all needing a place to land and several now fuel critical ATC was getting over-whelmed. In the scramble,
and without waiting for my fuel to get critical, I got my
flight a clearance to head for Nagoya, fuel situation still okay. So far so good.
A few minutes into heading that way, I was "ordered" by ATC to reverse course. Nagoya was saturated with traffic and unable to handle more planes (read-airport full). Ditto for Osaka.
With that statement, my situation went instantly from fuel okay, to fuel minimal considering we might have to divert a much farther distance.
Multiply my situation by a dozen other aircraft all in the
same boat, all making demands requests and threats to ATC for clearances somewhere.
Air Canada and then someone else went to "emergency" fuel situation.
Planes started to heading for air force bases. The nearest
to Tokyo was Yokoda AFB. I threw my hat in the ring for that initially.The answer - Yokoda closed! no more space.
By now it was a three ring circus in the cockpit, my copilot on the radios, me flying and making decisions and the relief copilot buried in the air charts trying to figure out where to go that was within range while data link messages were flying back and forth between us and company dispatch in Atlanta. I picked Misawa AFB at the
north end of Honshu island. We could get there with minimal fuel remaining. ATC was happy to get rid of us so we cleared out of the maelstrom of the Tokyo region. We heard ATC try to send planes toward Sendai, a small regional airport on the coast which was later the one I think that got flodded by a tsunami.
Atlanta dispatch then sent us a message asking if we could continue to Chitose airport on the Island of Hokkaido, north of Honshu.
Other Delta planes were heading that way. More scrambling in the cockpit- check weather, check charts, check fuel, okay. We could still make it and not
be going into a fuel critical situation ... if we had no
other fuel delays. As we approached Misawa we got clearance to continue to Chitose.
Critical decision thought process. Let's see - trying to
help company - plane overflies perfectly good divert airport for one farther away...wonder how that will look in the safety report, if anything goes wrong.
Suddenly ATC comes up and gives us a vector to a fix well short of Chitose and tells us to standby for holding instructions.
Nightmare realized. Situation rapidly deteriorating. After initially holding near Tokyo, starting a divert to Nagoya, reversing course back toTokyo then to re-di verting north toward Misawa, all that happy fuel reserve that I had was vaporizing fast. My subsequent conversation,paraphrased of course...., went something like this:
"Sapparo Control - Delta XX requesting immediate clearance direct to Chitose,minimum fuel, unable hold."
"Negative Ghost-Rider, the Pattern is full"
03-30-2011, 04:25 AM
#7
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Bowling Green, KY
Posts: 2,024
YIKES! Bad enough about the landing then NINE HOURS to get off the plane???
I am to the point I just really do NOT want to fly anywhere anymore. I really don't need to be fondled by a stranger before putting myself into a tight space where you are not really able to move around usually in a middle seat surrounded by BIG people that can't help encroaching on my tiny bit of space.
And now gas is going to the moon again so I think I'll just stay home and quilt :-)
I am to the point I just really do NOT want to fly anywhere anymore. I really don't need to be fondled by a stranger before putting myself into a tight space where you are not really able to move around usually in a middle seat surrounded by BIG people that can't help encroaching on my tiny bit of space.
And now gas is going to the moon again so I think I'll just stay home and quilt :-)
03-30-2011, 05:58 AM
#8
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Tippy-top of a ridge in WV
Posts: 6,355
A scenario one doesn't even add to the equation, not even dreamed of. Wow! How scary would that be? I was on the edge of my chair, even knowing that he made it o.k., but still, you get caught up in the moment. What a story!
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