KL763 short of fuel, forced to land short of destination.

DAT202D · Post by **DAT202D** » 03 Apr 2007, 16:13

A KLM MD11 from Curacao was forced to land after crew noticed lack of fuel.

Read it here

earthman · Post by **earthman** » 03 Apr 2007, 17:09

Luchtvaartnieuws.nl reports that the fuel shortage was caused by a combination of strong headwinds (stronger than was predicted) and a long period of flying at a relatively low altitude. These two things caused a much higher than anticipated fuel burn, which is why they stopped in Ireland for a refill.

Flying-Belgian · Post by **Flying-Belgian** » 03 Apr 2007, 21:18

There seems to have been a technical issue as well as the bird's next flight to Montreal was heavily delayed as well. KLM "investigates".

You don't stay 150 minutes on the ground for a small refuelling...

Rgds,

FB.

sn-remember · Post by **sn-remember** » 04 Apr 2007, 13:58

I am doubtful about the winds and altitude...
The MD11 commonly flies longer range legs than CUR-AMS.
SR/LX used them from ZRH to places like LAX, JNB, BKK, HKG, SAO.

So what's the trouble?

earthman · Post by **earthman** » 04 Apr 2007, 15:20

Sure they use them for longer trips, but nobody wants to take more fuel than they think they will need.

In addition, nobody said the 150 minutes were spent on the ground. They even mention headwind as one of the causes for the fuel shortage, which would indicate to me that the flight took them longer than anticipated, hence the delay.

foxtrot_lima_yankee · Post by **foxtrot_lima_yankee** » 04 Apr 2007, 19:53

I would rather take too much tan too little fuel...
certainly for long haul flights.
But we all know the Dutch, they think otherwise

Lucky those winds were not a bit stronger, otherwise they might have been swimming around somewhere in the Altlantic about now.

galaxy · Post by **galaxy** » 04 Apr 2007, 21:18

foxtrot_lima_yankee wrote:
Lucky those winds were not a bit stronger, otherwise they might have been swimming around somewhere in the Altlantic about now.

There is the Azores halfway Curacao to Amsterdam.
They have experiences about airplanes without fuel :

24 August 2001
Airline: Air Transat
Aircraft: Airbus A330-243

The aircraft was on a flight from Toronto, Ontario, Canada to Lisbon Portugal when a problem developed with the fuel system approximately 300nm northeast of Terciera Island, Azores Islands, Portugal. The crew elected to divert to Terciera Island for an emergency landing. The Captain reported that approximately 100nm from the airport, the left engine failed, and some ten minutes later, the right engine failed as well. The aircraft, using a minimal amount of hydraulic and electrical power supplied from its Ram Air Turbine, continued gliding toward Terciera Island in a gradual descent. The Captain reported that the flight arrived over Terciera Island at FL150 (15,000 feet), at dawn, and so he elected to make a visual approach to the airport with no engine power.

The total flying time without engine power was in the neighborhood of 17 to 18 minutes. The aircraft sustained minor damage during the landing, including damage to the landing gear as twelve tires exploded upon touchdown.

Initial reports indicate that a fuel line which had been replaced several days before became severed, leading to a fuel leak of approximately 37,000 gallons over the Atlantic Ocean.

http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view ... ir+Transat

sn-remember · Post by **sn-remember** » 06 Apr 2007, 22:12

foxtrot_lima_yankee wrote:I would rather take too much tan too little fuel...
certainly for long haul flights.
But we all know the Dutch, they think otherwise
Lucky those winds were not a bit stronger, otherwise they might have been swimming around somewhere in the Altlantic about now.

and crossing the ocean, you might expect an addtional security fuel.
Incredible thos dutch