Return to the gate to Refuel?
Jeremy asked:
Our aircraft was waiting to depart for about 40 minutes actively taxiing when we returned to the gate because the pilot said he did not have enough fuel. Has this ever happened? Any reasons for it? Whose fault is the miscalculation?
We ended up leaving JFK 3 hours late because of this mistake. It was a 4 hour flight and the equipment was a 757 the airline American Air.
Jeremy
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Filed Under Aircraft |
Tagged With American Air, Mistake, Pilot
Comments
4 Responses to “Return to the gate to Refuel?”
Lately with the cost of fuel, most airlines put in just enough fuel in the tank that is legally required. If you were waiting on the ramp for 40 minutes, I am assuming it was an unexpected wait, and they had to go back and put more fuel in.
No miscalculation. Airplanes only carry the minimum of fuel needed for the flight (plus a little reserve, in case of bad weather), since carrying tons of fuel that you don’t need causes the airplane to burn more fuel just to carry that extra weight. Taxiing for 40 minutes used up his reserve fuel. Since he no longer had his safety margin, he has to refuel.
The real problem was JFK Airport getting flights off the ground on time - obviously, your pilot was willing to take off during that 40 minute wait!.
The most probable answer is changing weather. The 40 minute taxi out isn’t unusual, but bad weather in route could have changed the flight path by literally hundreds of miles, and a need for a good landing alternate can add thousands of pounds to fuel requirements.
Picture this, the thunderstorms in the midwest have flared up more quickly than expected, requiring a flight ordinarily routed over Topeka to be re-routed over Chicago. Then LAX gets a new forecast of fog for the arrival time, and you need to put enough fuel on for a possible diversion to San Diego. I’ve done a flight from Savannah to Chicago via St. Louis before.
It sucks, and the airline hates it more than you do (thousands of extra dollars spent), but better safe than sorry.
something wrong here. the pilot should have put on enough fuel before he taxied out . he should have enough fuel to make the flight , fly to a alternate airport and still have enough fuel to fly for 45 minutes. he should also have added in the taxi time to takeoff. there is always delays at JFK.