Chinese pilot 'refused' to let jet low on fuel land first

[alberttky 0]

SHANGHAI - The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has launched a probe into a Chinese pilot's alleged refusal to let a Qatar Airway's jet that was running short of fuel land first.

 

In a statement published on its official website on Wednesday, CAAC East China Regional Administration said the incident is being investigated.

 

On Aug 13, Qatar Airway's flight QR888 from Doha to Shanghai Pudong International Airport requested permission to land at the city's Hongqiao International Airport due to adverse weather conditions.

 

When it approached Hongqiao airport, the pilot reported it was low on fuel and requested a priority landing before other flights that were in a holding pattern.

 

Air traffic controllers at Hongqiao airport informed other flights to give way to the Qatar Airways flight, but a pilot of Juneyao Airlines' flight HO1112 refused to carry out the order and insisted on landing first, said the statement.

 

Fortunately, the Qatar Airways plane later was able to land safely.

 

Reports of the incident provoked an immediate response from netizens. The overwhelming majority scolded the pilot's selfishness in not assisting a plane calling "Mayday".

 

Mayday is an emergency signal used in radio communications, which derives from the French phrase "venez m'aider", meaning "come help me".

 

"If a Juneyao flight one day flies in low on fuel and calls Mayday, what can it expect from other pilots?" asked a micro-blogger named Lijinjun.

 

Privately-owned Juneyao Airlines refused to comment on the event, but posted a statement on Wednesday evening, saying the company is actively cooperating with the CAAC probe, and has suspended the pilot and crew pending the findings.

 

Juneyao also claimed that the online description of the incident was far different from the truth, but the carrier said it will not release details about the incident to the public during the probe, which is in line with CAAC regulations.

 

"If the incident proves true, this would be a severe violation of aviation regulations and deserves a punishment," said Li Lei, an airline industry analyst with CITIC China Securities Co Ltd.

 

The incident has also cast a shadow on China's plan to open part of its low-altitude airspace over the next five to ten years for commercial aviation.

 

"The threshold to enter low altitude airspace will be lifted even higher to secure aviation safety," said Li.

 

In late 2010, a circular jointly issued by the State Council and the Central Military Commission of China said the country's low-altitude airspace will be partly opened.

 

As Asia's largest aviation market and the world's second largest, China's civil aviation market is expected to witness annual growth of 13 per cent between 2011 and 2015, according to a China Securities Journal report.

 

http://relax.com.sg/relax/news/741908/Chinese_pilot_refused_to_let_jet_low_on_fuel_land_first.html

[JuliusWong 0]

I just read about this news at Sin Chew just now. (Yesterday's paper btw). It has nice graphic.

 

I was shocked to read about this. Imagine the number of casualties if QR really runs out of fuel? Which leads to another question why QR flight carry limited amount of fuel? However, we wouldn't know what really happened until the investigation has concluded.

Edited August 27, 2011 by JuliusWong

[Cire 0]

I am sure there must be regulation with regards to the minimum fuel permissible. Bad weather and headwind may add to more fuel consumption but isn't these factors considered?

 

Any idea if the region's budget airlines flies with minimum fuel on board to save weight?

[alberttky 0]

The article mentioned adverse weather condition which sometimes happen when pilots faced far stronger headwind than anticipated. There was once when SQ1 from SFO to HKG had to be diverted to TPE also due to strong headwind.

 

Extremely poor airmanship on the part of the Chinese pilot.

[Naim 6]

During the Subang days, I overhead MH1 requesting priority landing due to low fuel, twice.

[Teoh Z Yao 0]

Adverse weather comes in various degrees, so perhaps the degree of adversity had not been expected... I think low fuel happens quite frequent; the pilots in the forum can shed light if this statement is true...

 

Interesting piece of news... :-)

[Radzi 2]

On Aug 13, Qatar Airway's flight QR888 from Doha to Shanghai Pudong International Airport requested permission to land at the city's Hongqiao International Airport due to adverse weather conditions.

 

 

Which leads to another question why QR flight carry limited amount of fuel?

 

Sounds like a diversion to me, which means they are already using the reserve fuel.

Edited August 27, 2011 by Radzi

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

Notice that the airport they requested to land on , is not their destination of choice , hence this aircraft would have been holding for some time , and burnt their holding fuel , and then decided to divert.

 

I've also heard this happen in our Malaysian Airspace with certain carriers requesting priority due to limited fuel remaining. Of course these aircraft always have the option to go to Subang if fuel is critical ! Poor planning ? Company Policy ?

 

Who knows?

[Nguyen Vu Loc 0]

QR-888 was already on hold for 30 minutes while on approach to PuDong. Since the situation was not ameliorating QR requested diversion to HongQiao

Quote:

"By Simon Hradecky, created Wednesday, Aug 24th 2011 20:19Z, last updated Wednesday, Aug 24th 2011 20:33Z

A Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300, registration A7-BAC performing flight QR-888 from Doha (Qatar) to Shanghai (China), needed to enter a holding around 14:40L (06:40Z) while on approach to Shanghai's Pudong Airport due to weather. The crew subsequently decided to divert to Shanghai's Hongqiao Airport at 15:10L and declared emergency due to being low on fuel.

 

A Juneyao Airlines Airbus A320-200, flight HO-1112 from Shenzhen to Shanghai Hongquiao (China), was on approach to Hongqiao Airport, when Air Traffic Control instructed the crew to abort the approach in order to accomodate the emergency of QR-888. The crew, without requesting priority or declaring emergency, refused the instructions and continued their approach for a safe landing forcing ATC to delay the Boeing 777-300.

 

Flight QR-888 landed safely on Shanghai's Hongqiao Airport at 15:37L following the Airbus. The aircraft later continued to Pudong reaching their destination with a delay of 9 hours.

 

China's Civil Aviation Authority (CAAC) reported on Aug 24th that QR-888 declared emergency due to fuel shortage while waiting for approach to Pudong and diverted to Hongqiao. Air Traffic Control issued instructions to Juneyao's flight 1112 to give way to the Qatar Boeing, the crew however did not comply with the instructions forcing the controllers to re-arrange the landing sequence. The CAAC opened an investigation and pledged: "Verified violations will be severely dealt with according to law."

 

A briefing circling in China's aviation industry suggests that the Qatar Boeing 777 landed with 5 tons of fuel remaining, the Juneyao Airbus A320 with 2.9 tons of fuel remaining.

 

Metars Pudong:

ZSPD 130900Z 24008G13MPS 210V270 9999 -TSRA SQ SCT030CB 29/23 Q1005 BECMG FM0910 33007G12MPS +TSRA SQ

ZSPD 130830Z VRB01MPS 9999 TS FEW030CB 29/22 Q1002 BECMG TL0930 20005MPS TSRA

ZSPD 130800Z 32008G13MPS 9999 TS SCT016 SCT030CB 27/21 Q1003 BECMG TL0915 22005MPS -SHRA

ZSPD 130730Z VRB03MPS 9999 -TSRA SCT016 SCT030CB 29/23 Q1003 BECMG TL0900 22005MPS NSW

ZSPD 130700Z 14006MPS 9999 TS SCT030 SCT030CB 32/25 Q1003 BECMG TL0830 NSW

ZSPD 130630Z 15005MPS 120V180 8000 SCT026 FEW026TCU 33/25 Q1003 WS RWY17R NOSIG

ZSPD 130600Z 14007MPS 8000 SCT026 FEW026TCU 33/25 Q1003 NOSIG

ZSPD 130530Z 17005MPS 8000 SCT026 FEW026TCU 32/26 Q1003 NOSIG

ZSPD 130500Z 17007MPS 7000 SCT026 FEW026TCU 32/26 Q1003 NOSIG

ZSPD 130430Z 16006MPS 7000 SCT026 32/26 Q1003 NOSIG

ZSPD 130400Z 19004MPS 150V270 7000 SCT023 33/25 Q1004 NOSIG

ZSPD 130330Z 21003MPS 150V290 7000 SCT023 FEW023TCU 33/24 Q1004 NOSIG

 

Metars Hongqiao:

ZSSS 130900Z VRB01MPS CAVOK 25/24 Q1005 RETSRA NOSIG

ZSSS 130830Z 21007MPS 160V240 1600 R18L/0800VP2000D R18R/1000VP2000D +TSRA BKN026CB 25/23 Q1004 BECMG TL0840 TSRA

ZSSS 130800Z 12007MPS 9999 -TSRA SCT030CB 29/21 Q1002 BECMG TL0840 TSRA

ZSSS 130730Z 18007MPS 8000 SCT030 32/24 Q1002 NOSIG

ZSSS 130700Z 22005MPS 9999 FEW030TCU 33/24 Q1002 NOSIG

ZSSS 130630Z 24004MPS 190V280 9999 FEW030TCU SCT030 34/22 Q1002 NOSIG

ZSSS 130600Z 23005MPS 200V260 9999 SCT030 34/23 Q1002 NOSIG

ZSSS 130530Z 22003MPS 170V250 9999 SCT030 34/24 Q1002 NOSIG

ZSSS 130500Z 23003MPS 190V280 9999 BKN028 34/25 Q1003 NOSIG

ZSSS 130430Z 24002MPS 200V280 9999 BKN028 33/24 Q1003 NOSIG

ZSSS 130400Z 25003MPS 220V290 9999 BKN026 33/24 Q1003 NOSIG

"

Source

[H Azmal 0]

A little offtopic but related nonetheless - wasn't MH nearly banned from LHR because its flights were almost always left with 4-5 tonnes of fuel, a few years back?

[Teoh Z Yao 0]

A little offtopic but related nonetheless - wasn't MH nearly banned from LHR because its flights were almost always left with 4-5 tonnes of fuel, a few years back?

 

I remember this...

[Cire 0]

Hm..interesting...the private airline have lesser fuel than the B777-300 (2.9 to 5 tons). In this situation, Juneyao has priorities, but did not declare emergency request to land?

 

On the subject of minimum fuel allowed, is there such law announced by respective airports requiring airlines to have a certain amount of fuel before actually landing. I know this is done in case aircrafts needed to be on hold pattern longer than usual, like Heathrow. And having an alternative airport which is further away is also considered in the calculation of minimum fuel needed for approaching aircrafts.

 

I would think there is a hard decision for airlines wanting to improve its fuel economy (lighter) versus that of minimum fuel needed by airports? Purely speculative?

[c.lee 0]

Hm..interesting...the private airline have lesser fuel than the B777-300 (2.9 to 5 tons). In this situation, Juneyao has priorities, but did not declare emergency request to land?

The Juneyao aircraft is an A320. Believe 2.9 tons of fuel on the A320 can last longer than 5 tons on a 77W.

[flee 5]

China penalises airline for low-fuel landing row

 

SHANGHAI: China's Civil Aviation Administration is punishing a local airline whose pilot balked at yielding to a Qatar Airways jet requesting to land because it was short of fuel.

 

The CAAC, in a notice Tuesday, described the incident as a "serious violation of regulations." Local reports at the time said the aircraft came dangerously close to collision before both landed safely.

 

The Qatar jet from Doha was circling over Shanghai's Pudong International Airport on Aug. 13 due to bad weather when it radioed it was short of fuel and asked to land instead at the city's other main airport, Hongqiao International.

 

But the pilot of the Juneyao Airlines jet repeatedly refused requests to make way, even after the Qatar jet issued a "mayday" call. He reportedly argued that his aircraft also was short on fuel.

 

The CAAC barred the pilot, a Korean citizen, from working in China and said it would notify the South Korean government of the case. The copilot's flight permit was suspended for six months, it said.

 

It ordered Juneyao to reduce its flights by 10 percent and said the carrier would be temporarily barred from carrying out plans for expansion or hiring any foreign flight staff.

 

All foreign flight crews of the airline also will be required to participate in at least 40 hours of training on Chinese aviation regulations, it said.

 

Shanghai-based Juneyao, one of several private carriers in an aviation market dominated by state-run airlines, said it would fire the pilot responsible for the dispute and ground the co-pilot for six months.

 

It said that regardless of the circumstances surrounding the incident, it recognized it was at fault and apologized.

 

The administration said a probe found that at the time of the landing dispute, 20 aircraft were waiting to land at Pudong. Air traffic control immediately sought to arrange for the fuel-short Qatar jet to land, but the Juneyao pilot refused six requests to give way, the CAAC said.

 

Results of the investigation found that the Juneyao jet had enough fuel to stay airborne for 42 more minutes while the Qatar jet had only enough fuel for 18 more minutes of flight, it said.

 

The question of whether the Qatar aircraft had violated fuel carriage regulations would be discussed with Qatar's air authority, it said.

 

Originally founded in 1991 as a charter service, Juneyao began operating commercial flights out of Shanghai in 2006. - AP

 

Source

[JuliusWong 0]

China penalises airline for low-fuel landing row

 

It ordered Juneyao to reduce its flights by 10 percent and said the carrier would be temporarily barred from carrying out plans for expansion or hiring any foreign flight staff.

 

All foreign flight crews of the airline also will be required to participate in at least 40 hours of training on Chinese aviation regulations, it said.

 

 

Wah!! reduce flight by 10%, temporary embargo on employment and retraining.....ouch!!

[Mike P 0]

What a selfish and barbarian pilot! Good to know that QR can land safely and really wonder why QF is running low on fuel for this case, not unless it has been held circling on the air.

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

Read the article properly and thoroughly

 

What a selfish and barbarian pilot! Good to know that QR can land safely and really wonder why QF is running low on fuel for this case, not unless it has been held circling on the air.

[Mike P 0]

Read the article properly and thoroughly

 

Did the article posted here ever mention why QR was running low on fuel? I thought it was still under investigation? The article was focusing more on the local airlines' pilot that refused to give way to QR for landing, right?

[flee 5]

On August 29, East China Regional Administration of CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China) published verdicts of the official investigation into the incident that Juneyao Airlines's flight HO1112 refused to give way to another flight with MAYDAY declaration on August 13, 2011. Juneyao Airlines makes the following statement:

 

1. The behavior of flight HO1112 cockpit crew's failing to follow the ATC instructions on Aug. 13 was wrong for any reason. Both flight HO1112's captain and co-pilot have been aware of their mistakes and apologized to the involving parties in their individual report.

 

2. Juneyao Airlines apologizes for the negative effects brought to the related parties, and expresses thanks to the public and media for their supervision and care.

 

3. Juneyao Airlines will firmly implement CAAC's verdicts.

 

4. Juneyao Airlines will terminate the labor contract with the captain and suspend the co-pilot's flight permit for 6 months.

 

5. Juneyao Airlines will draw lessons from the incident and make great efforts to improve their work, further educating all their pilots of strict implementation of ATC instructions and training all their foreign pilots on strictly following China's civil aviation rules and regulations. Juneyao commits to the public that the carrier will strictly adhere to safety first policy, resolutely safeguard customers' benefits and provide quality service with all sincerity.

 

Juneyao Airlines Co., Ltd.

 

August 30, 2011

 

Source

[Mike P 0]

Well, that's a punishment. It's very important for a pilot to follow strictly with the control tower to avoid any fatal incidents. But just sad sometimes human error cannot be avoided for all time, which led to the DHL and Bashkirian Airlines collided in the mid air in year 2002.

Edited August 30, 2011 by Mike P

[Robert 0]

I remember this...

 

Yes I remember it making the UK newspapers

 

Some links from the archives:

 

 

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/1999/05/19/51332/malaysia-airlines-low-fuel-danger-spans-two-years.html

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/jetfuel-scandal-report-blocked-1110180.html

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/339810.stm

 

http://www.limkitsiang.com/archive/1999/may99/sg1766.htm

 

http://archives.californiaaviation.org/airport/msg00187.html

 

 

 

[Waiping 12]

Low on fuel = priority landing.

[alberttky 0]

China's Juneyao faces CAAC sanctions after safety breach

 

China's aviation authorities have imposed temporary restrictions on Juneyao Airlines' operations after one of its pilots ignored air traffic control (ATC) orders to give way to another aircraft that was trying land at Shanghai's Hongqiao airport.

 

On 13 August, the South Korean pilot of a Juneyao Airbus A320 refused to give way several times to a Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300ER, which had declared an emergency and was attempting to land at the airport.

 

Upon investigations, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC)'s East China Regional Administration ordered Shanghai-based Juneyao to cut its capacity by 10% for three months. It also put a stop to the privately owned airline's plans for expansion and prevented it from setting up new subsidiaries and leasing new aircraft.

 

The carrier was also ordered to stop hiring foreign pilots temporarily and review the capabilities of its foreign pilots. It has to put its existing foreign flight crew through at least 40h of ground training within 30 days, focusing on civil aviation procedures in China, under the supervision of the CAAC.

 

The licence of the South Korean captain of the Juneyao A320 involved in the incident has been revoked, and he has been banned from working in China. The co-pilot's licence has been suspended for six months.

 

The CAAC said that the Qatar 777 was originally bound for Shanghai's Pudong airport on 13 August, but was among 20 aircraft that could not land due to a thunderstorm. The aircraft diverted to Hongqiao and the pilot requested for permission from its ATC to land.

 

The crew then informed ATC that it was running low on fuel and had only five minutes of flying time left. ATC subsequently arranged for the 777 to land ahead of other aircraft and requested that the other inbound aircraft to give way.

 

The crew of Juneyao flight HO1112 rejected this command, citing insufficient fuel levels. Subsequently, the 777 flight crew sent out a Mayday call, which led to another command to the Juneyao flight crew.

 

"During the entire process, air traffic controllers commanded flight HO1112 to give way six times in the space of seven minutes, but the flight crew rejected this each time," said the CAAC.

 

The 777 eventually landed safely after air traffic controllers employed "other measures", the CAAC added without elaborating.

 

Inspections of both aircraft after landing showed that the 777 had a remaining fuel weight of 5,200kg and a flying time of 18min. The Juneyao A320 had a fuel weight of 2,900kg and a flying time of 42min.

 

Calling the Juneyao flight crew's behaviour a "serious violation" of aviation regulations, the CAAC said the crew had violated the "career integrity" of pilots.

 

It added that the flight crew of the Qatar 777 had acted appropriately, but noted that they had failed to gauge the aircraft's fuel levels accurately. The CAAC has referred the matter to the Qatari civil aviation authorities, it said.

 

In response to the CAAC's order, Juneyao said its flight crew has expressed regret over the incident and added that the carrier will carry out the orders of the agency.

 

"Juneyao takes the lesson from this episode seriously and will work hard to improve itself and further improve its pilot training. The company promises that safety is our top priority, and we will commit ourselves to protecting our customers and providing the best service," said the airline.

 

Qatar Airways said that its 777 captain declared an emergency en route to Hongqiao in order not to compromise flight safety. It adds that it is "working closely with the local authorities in China to establish the full facts of the incident".

 

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/08/31/361443/chinas-juneyao-faces-caac-sanctions-after-safety-breach.html

 

One bad decision and it's bye bye to the Captain...

Edited September 1, 2011 by alberttky

[Nik H. 3]

During the Subang days, I overhead MH1 requesting priority landing due to low fuel, twice.

 

That would be around '94 - '97. Big story swept under the carpet there. It showed what Mas Management are made off. And also brought out the best and the worst in Pilot Character.

[leon t 0]

the CPT of the Juneyao flight is not a chinese but a Korean pilot and who has now been barred from flying/working in China