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Winter flying in Europe - Alternate airports? (Read 450 times)

Jan 14^th, 2010 at 9:20am

Stewy44 Offline
Colonel
Giggety Giggety!
(Sim)Flying in Europe and Asia

Posts: 141

G'day guys,

As an Aussie, this question is a bit foreign to me. I just flew a 737 from Pisa, Italy to Paris Orly (replicating a real flight, using real weather)

As I got close to Orly, ATIS reported Vis at 1/8 of a mile - (that didn't sound good) and I mentally prepared for a go-around, at least!

I did the approach and received a go-around because a 747 was on the runway - I couldn't see either at minimums!

Madly sprawling over my charts folder and an atlas, I decided to divert to Nantes and got in (barely) with 1/4 Mile Vis.

I was just curious, how do heavy metal pilots pick alternates? Apart from runway/ILS features, what determines a good alternate? Weather? Proximity to original destinatation? Company policy?

I got in in Nantes - but it's about 350 km from Paris - I dare say there'd be lots of cranky pax if it were real!

Sorry for the silly question, but Australia doesn't get that many diversions/cancellations due to weather Wink

I'm curious to know what happens in Europe/America etc...

Cheers
Stew

FS9 - the only way you can fly a 747 while drinking beer

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Reply #1 - Jan 14^th, 2010 at 10:23am

DaveSims Offline
Colonel
Clear Lake, Iowa

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Posts: 2453

For the big tubes, usually the dispatcher who plans the flight picks the alternates. It will often depend on weather at any approved alternates and many other factors. I once was on a 757 that diverted from Denver to Grand Junction because of weather, which seemed odd at the time. We even had a situation recently here where an aircraft went missed here, could not even shoot the approach at the alternate, and the pilot and dispatcher spent a few feverish minutes trying to decide what to do next, since fuel is not a replenishable resource.

In real life, the airlines are not allowed to even fly the approach, unless the reported weather is at or above minimums for that approach. A standard ILS is usually 200 feet and 1/4 mile.

Dave

www.flymcw.com

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Reply #2 - Jan 14^th, 2010 at 3:17pm

C Offline
Colonel
Earth

Posts: 13144

Stewy44 wrote on Jan 14^th, 2010 at 9:20am:

I was just curious, how do heavy metal pilots pick alternates? Apart from runway/ILS features, what determines a good alternate? Weather? Proximity to original destinatation? Company policy?

Probably in this order, as you're sitting down doing your pre flight planning and discussing your fuel uplift.

Can the airport you're considering as a diversion airport handle your aircraft and pax load (services, fire cover etc)? If not, find another airport. If it can, you then look at weather and approach aids available (the two being linked), and then finally location (as the closer you are, the lower your diversion fuel will be). Company policy will encompass all aspects above. - and will certainly nominate suitable and preferred alternate airports.

As an idea, for example an airport you want to use as a diversion has a CAT 1 ILS, then you'd probably want the forecast weather (at the time you'd be needing to use it) to be no worse than the published weather minima for a non-precision approach (LLZ, VOR, NDB etc).

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