Qantas Perth Bound Boeing 737 Announces Fuel Mayday
Qantas
- IATA/ICAO code
- QF/QFA
- Airline Type
- Full Service Operator
- Hub
- Brisbane Airport, Melbourne Airport, Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport
- year Found
- 1920
- Guild
- one world
- CEO
- Alan Joyce
- Country
- Australia
A Qantas Boeing 737-800 bound for Perth (PER) on Monday, July 18, declared a mayday after running out of fuel. The jet was in the final stages of a nearly six-hour flight across Brisbane (BNE) when Perth air traffic controllers put the plane into an extended hold period. But with fuel running low, the pilot made the unusual call of a fuel mayday.
Extended containment beyond Perth pushed aircraft closer to the minimum required fuel reserves
The incident involved flight QF933 operated by VH-VZO, an 11-year-old Boeing 737-800. The narrow-bodied aircraft are the workhorses of Qantas’ domestic network, crossing Australia and rarely causing problems. The Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) requires flights to take off with fuel reserves at least 30 minutes beyond their planned flight time. On Monday morning, while still at Brisbane Airport, pilots were advised to wait ten minutes outside Perth, so they ordered ten minutes worth of additional fuel to be pumped into the tanks.
Flight tracking data shows the VH-VZO departed at 6:52 a.m. and tracked north of Adelaide before continuing across the Bay to Perth. Towards the end of the flight, back over land and roughly north of Ravensthorpe, the plane turned sharply to the right to initiate a large parabolic grip. The pilot stayed in the waiting room for ten minutes.
The Sydney Morning Herald cracked the story, and according to the report, pilots risked landing with no legal minimum fuel reserves if they didn’t announce a fuel mayday. The call saw a Qantas Boeing jump ahead of four other planes waiting to land in Perth. The newspaper said the jet flew into Perth ATC airspace with 20 minutes worth of additional fuel beyond the minimum required, but after holding and burning the fuel, Perth ATC told pilots its hold period was 16 minutes.
“Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is investigating a low-fuel event involving a Boeing 737-838, registered VH-VZO that occurred under Wave Rock, Western Australia on 18 July 2022,” said a statement from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB).”On disembarkation, the crew declared a state of emergency due to the amount of fuel on board and began landing in Perth. The plane landed with reserves intact.”
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Qantas says the mayday call is the right call and never a security issue
Mayday quickly tracked the plane to Perth Airport, where it landed without further incident. Other media reports said the plane landed with a minimum of 30 minutes plus ten minutes of fuel reserves. Qantas notified the outlet that their pilots did the right thing, landed with well above the minimum fuel requirement, and there were never any safety issues.
VH-VZO took five hours and 56 minutes to complete this sector. At 2,246 miles (3,614 kilometers), it is one of the longest domestic routes in Australia. Qantas uses a mix of wide-body and narrow-body aircraft on its journey. Depending on takeoff weight and factors such as headwinds (which can be a problem on transcontinental flights to the west), a fully loaded Boeing 737-800 can potentially fly up to 3,582 miles (5,765 kilometers).
The ATSB is investigating and said they will release a final report once the investigation is complete.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
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