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Delta flight diverts to KGVT but no one knows how to fuel it!

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A Delta jet, low on fuel, diverted to KGVT east of DFW. Once they got on the ground they realized the airport worker didn't know how to fuel the plane. They had no stairs to deplane passengers either....fun night for that crew. (www.wfaa.com) More...

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joelwiley
joel wiley 5
Not enough fuel to make it to the alternate? Is there more to this story? Charge the extra costs to the budget line of the bean counters who insist on a money-saving running-on-empty policy.
The flight to Majors is here, and the DFW is next in the queue
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL7306/history/20150626/1929Z/KLGA/KGVT
mldavis2
Mike Davis 1
At least they had the common sense to get out of the air. Guess they could have deployed the emergency slides.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
What is wrong with Step Ladders... Doh... Used for Fueling or deplaning... What a bunch of idiots.
MultiComm
MultiComm 3
Sounds like a problem with the joint responsibilities of the PIC and the Dispatcher. With as much weather they had to fly through which had to have been forecast, they might have flown more miles diveating as well as unplanned altitude both cost higher fuel burn. So they simply did not depart with enough extra which has become much more common these days.

My concern is that they didn't recognkse the problem soon enough to make it to an approved alternate...or the fact that GVT would be listed in the charts as an approved alternate without proper equipment to service the plane.
chalet
chalet 2
Alright enough is enough with you monday mornining quarterbacks. An emergency is an emergency, be content that there was airport capable to receive this plane. When you have to land ASAP you land ASAP regardless or do you always expect a red carpet reception by the mayor of the city and then be limousined away to 3 star Michelin restaurant. Bravo Sugar!.
joelwiley
joel wiley 2
Agree to a point, an emergency is an emergency. Smoke in the cabin, engine failing catastrophically, emergency. Running out of gas without alternates on deck, failure to plan ahead. Failure to plan can precipitate an emergency.
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
I agree... I do not fault him for diverting, but they should have made the decision sooner and been better prepared... Since the location could not fuel the a/c they would not in my book be considered a viable alternate... They could have done better.
chalet
chalet 2
Wasn't Sears open to buy some buckets, damn
jimquinndallas
Jim Quinn 2
With all the heavy metal aircraft that go into Majors Field for military enhancements you'd think that someone there would have the capability to refuel the flight.
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
Doh... You can do it one of 2 ways... Pressure fuel from a central point, apply fuel pressure and the plane does the rest or simply over wing it... What idiots... This article is barely news worthy...
wwcurry
ww curry 3
Poor planning by the captain. He alone has final responsibility for the fuel load. Put him back in the right seat for a year., or send him back to the mall to sell shoes...
ADXbear
ADXbear 1
There are issues with this flight and the Feds will certainly be looing into this.. with Forecast Wx, they should have had plenty of fuel to get to a suitable Alternate.. Someone got some "splaning" to do.. I think this will be to the Chief Pilot.... Pilots disregard dispatchers all the time which is their prerogative as the POC.. but it comes with answering questions.

sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Doh... You can do it one of 2 ways... Pressure fuel from a central point, apply fuel pressure and the plane does the rest or simply over wing it... What idiots... This article is barely news worthy... It also sounds as though the crew waited too long to divert or were either misfueld from their origin...
NF2G
David Stark 1
The "no ARFF" part of the story makes me think that even someone at the FAA will have some 'splainin' to do. A commercial flight should never have been cleared to an airport without a staffed fire rescue station.
ercadm
Mike Dacre 0
LGA to DFW and not enough fuel? Something is seriously wrong with this picture. They should have had enough fuel to turn around and go back!
bigjulie
They were 15 minutes short of landing at DFW when they were diverted to GVT, which means they were way past the Point Of No Return (PNR), which means they could not get back to LGA!
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
There was no reason for them to return to LGA, but they did need enough fuel to divert to a suitable alternate and see how they did not know how to fuel the a/c leads me to believe that they were not suitable.
30west
30west 1
Upon what do you base your judgement that "they should have had enough fuel to turn and go back" ? The flight landed over four hours after departing LGA.
744pnf
744pnf 0
My perceptions, not having all the info...

...the airport worker didn't know how to fuel the plane.

And the flight crew didn't know how either?

... Pilots disregard dispatchers all the time which is their prerogative as the POC.

Disregard dispatchers? Not in my 39 years of experience.

..."There was no fire department, no staff, no one at the airport when we landed...

No ARFF might be another mistake in landing there.

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