Geschichten, die das Leben so schreibt

[PHL]

Nur mal als kleine Geschichte zwischendurch:

 

Mittwoch früh kam es zu leichten Verspätungen am Canberra Airport nachdem der zuständige Towerlotse verschlafen hatte. Normalerweise beginnt sein Dienst um 5.30 Uhr früh, am Mittwoch kam er allerdings erst gegen 5.50 Uhr zum Flughafen nachdem sein Alarm versagt hatte.

Ein Qantas Flug von Perth nach Canberra mit 68 Passagieren mußte 20 Minuten kreisen, bis er landen konnte.

Die Australische Air Traffic Control will nun immer zwei Lotsen für die Frühschicht einteilen, falls einer verschläft...

 

Hier der ganze Bericht:

 

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority says there is no reason for it to investigate an incident at the Canberra International Airport in which a Qantas plane carrying 68 passengers was forced to circle overhead for 20 minutes because an air traffic controller had slept in.

 

Airservices Australia, the government-owned air traffic control corporation, said that, as a result of the incident on Wednesday morning, it would now roster on two rather than one "full performance" controllers to open the air traffic control tower at Canberra from 5.30am.

 

"That should alleviate any situations recurring where if one of them sleeps in they'll always be somebody else who can actually open the tower," spokesman Richard Dudley said.

 

CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said the authority would not be investigating the incident, The Canberra Times reported.

 

The air traffic control tower was not essential to landing a plane and many airports with lighter air traffic operated without one, the pilots using radio broadcasts to alert other planes.

 

"Even if the tower was to be unmanned all day, you could still have pretty close to normal traffic coming in and out, it would just be a lot more work for the pilots," he said.

 

Airservices Australia said the plane was also under radar surveillance by an air traffic controller in Melbourne responsible for the air space around Canberra.

 

The Canberra Times revealed on Thursday that the Perth-to-Canberra flight on Wednesday morning stayed in a holding pattern for about 20 minutes waiting for the air traffic control tower in Canberra to open because the controller had slept in when his alarm failed to go off.

 

"The controller actually did set the alarm. The alarm didn't go off for whatever reason," Mr Dudley said.

 

The tower did not open until 5.50am, causing the Perth-to-Canberra flight carrying the 68 passengers to land 12 minutes late and another Qantas Canberra-to-Sydney flight carrying 168 passengers to leave seven minutes late.

 

Airservices Australia said the delays were unacceptable but refused to comment on whether the controller would be reprimanded. It's understood the controller at the centre of the mishap is highly regarded.

 

Qantas did not answer inquiries as to how much the delays and additional fuel used would have cost it.

 

The Canberra tower operates only from 5.30am to 11pm.

 

Outside these hours, aircraft can land by using the "mandatory broadcast zone procedures".

 

"It involves what it says, making mandatory broadcasts on a certain frequency so that other traffic in the area know what you're doing and if there's any potential conflict, the pilots work it out between themselves," Mr Gibson said.

 

"It's very standard stuff, no dramas at all." However, Qantas chief pilot and head of flight operations, Captain Chris Manning, told The Canberra Times on Wednesday that it was the airline's policy to hold planes in the air until the tower was open.

 

Mr Gibson said that was also a legitimate choice and if necessary, the plane could have gone to Melbourne or Sydney, had the Canberra tower not opened.

 

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=59777

[Lockheed]

Wer schläft, sündigt nicht... ;o)

[Sabo]

Und wer nix macht macht auch nix falsch :-)

[LXBSL]

Es gibt da eine Geschichte aus Basel. Ist aber schon länger her.

 

Folgende Situation: 3 Flieger im Anflug, Wetter wird immer schlechter.

 

Der Pilot der ersten Maschine wollte wissen, wie lang das Wetter denn noch im zulässigen Bereich sei, worauf der Lotse antwortete er könnne dies nicht sagen. Der Pilot bat ihn, einen Meteorologen zu fragen, der im Tower war. Dieser schaute raus und meinte, der Flughafen würde wohl in 5 Minuten dicht gemacht werden müssen.

 

Und genau so kam es. Nach 5 Minuten war der Laden dicht. Die ersten zwei durften landen, der dritte wurde umgeleitet.