QF9 sat 29/4 Melbourne to Heathrow - long delay in Dubai

[chocsaway]

OK, thanks.


It will be interesting to watch what occurs in the next couple of days to see if there is a delay due to a flight crew needing more rest.

In the last couple of days, from departure time to landing time (which is not arrival at gate - we need to allow more minutes for that) QF9 has taken seven hours 20 minutes and seven hours 27 minutes between DXB and LHR so the seven hours 10 minutes (1500 to 1910, adjusted for the three hour time difference) may be possible. However it's not now departing at 1500 but 1545. The way QF9's (not) going, a departure delay to QF2 tonight (Sunday 30 April) in LHR is practically guaranteed.

Now we are just boarding at 4pm so departure more likely to be 4.30 to 4.40
As it's a full flight. Need sleep

 

[Melburnian1]

Based on a 1600 hours departure, QF had changed the estimated LHR arrival to 2055. That may be redundant due to chocsaway's latest advice above.

Aircraft is A388 VH-OQL.

 

[Melburnian1]

Oh dear. QF has just updated its website to state an estimated 1710 DXB departure for the delayed QF9 - 485 minutes late. This means 2120 into LHR (allowing five minutes on the ground there between touchdown and allocated gate arrival.)

So that removes any doubt as to whether the 2135 hours QF2 from LHR to DXB and SYD will be late. It won;t be able to get away until 2310 at the absolute earliest.

 

[straitman]

OK, thanks.

It will be interesting to watch what occurs in the next couple of days to see if there is a delay due to a flight crew needing more rest.

Oh dear. QF has just updated its website to state an estimated 1710 DXB departure for the delayed QF9 - 485 minutes late. This means 2120 into LHR (allowing five minutes on the ground there between touchdown and allocated gate arrival.)

So that removes any doubt as to whether the 2135 hours QF2 from LHR to DXB and SYD will be late. It won't be able to get away until 2310 at the absolute earliest.

The crew that didn't fly tonight/today should be rested and able to pick up the load tomorrow though.

 

[Melburnian1]

Re: Qantas Delays/Cancellations

Taxiing for take off now.

Yes, it appears to have departed DXB at 1732 hours on Sunday 30 April, eight and a half hours late.

It was airborne at 1750 hours.

 

[Melburnian1]

The almost eight and a half hour late QF9 departed DXB at 1732 hours for the flight to LHR, becoming airborne at 1750.

 

[Quickstatus]

Hello Melburnian1
It's a new tech and flight deck crew only (i.e. Pilots x2 and engineers etc) at this stage - apparently the cabin crew are within their hours.
I couldn't honestly tell you what flight the new crew they were due to be on but I know they were called in because of the delay!
I know how they feel on the time zones 

Usually the flights between DXB and LHR are only 2 pilot crew. They don't have engineers on the flight deck.
Maybe they were on a check flight? Similar to QF32 flight deck?

...

Unless there is dispensation I don't see VH-OQL turning around as QF2 in 1.5 hours. Let's hope that it can

BTW what's the system of curfew dispensation at LHR (if any apart from weather)

 

[Aussie_flyer]

QF2 got airborne at 23.58 according to FlightAware. That's pretty close!

 

[jb747]

Tech crew is a somewhat strange airline term that simply refers to anyone who lives in the coughpit. As flight engineers no longer exist, tech crew is simply interchangeable with pilots. Pilots call pilots, pilots. Cabin crew use the tech term...perhaps because they aren't.

The crew to London on the 9 is normally just two pilots. It varies with the weather and season. There would have been no trouble finding an alternative crew, as most are champing at the bit to leave Dubai. The most likely outcome would have been a swap between the planned crew of the 9 and the next 1 crew. They'd try to avoid the 2 & 10, but they'd be used if needed. There would be no reason for crewing issues to affect subsequent flights.

 

[jb747]

The problem is connected to cabin pressure and air conditioning I believe and seems to be a leaky valve.

Did they ever say what the warning was, or just paraphrase it? And how close to push back time did you get...about 15 minutes?

They deplaned us all and carried on trying to fix it - looked like they had cracked it at one point as it ran for 15 mins without issue so they started loading passengers back on board only for the warning light to come on again.

What ran for 15 minutes?

 

[chocsaway]

Hello JB747
I used the same phraseology that the pilot used when he came to explain to us what was going on.
You are quite right though the cabin crew used the expression "tech crew" and it seemed very logical to me as I knew exactly who they meant although had now idea how many or technical qualifications etc.
It happened right on push back time - the captain was literally doing his welcome on board speech, time of flight and weather in London when he paused mid speech - it couldn't have been much closer!
The engines ran for 15 mins before the fault showed up again.
We all were on board again for about 16.30 and then, again using the captains phraseology, the on board computers had an issue due to overheating and all engines and electronics had to be shut down - he described it as a "reboot".
It was like the "Never Ending Flight" ...
However, we arrived at around about 22.15 last night - although I have to honest I lost track of time!
Funny thing today - we were in Windsor Great Park and the QF9 flew overhead at about 13.20 - so early today Typical!

 

[jb747]

It happened right on push back time - the captain was literally doing his welcome on board speech, time of flight and weather in London when he paused mid speech - it couldn't have been much closer!

Normally in Dubai, the aircraft is kept on ground power and air as long as possible. Switchover is somewhere around 15 minutes to go, give or take a bit. This keeps the ducting and surrounding areas as cool as possible.

The engines ran for 15 mins before the fault showed up again.

My first thought was an APU bleed duct leak ECAM. These are normally spurious, but are a constant issue in really hot weather. You can't ignore them, as they automatically shut off the APU bleed air. In itself that's an annoyance, and you can work around around it. You can still access APU generators, and you'll just have to use ground air for the start.

But, if the engines were run for a while, then that would point at a bleed air leak, or a pack overheat. The system works by temperature measurement adjacent to the duct, so it's not directly using pressure or flow to look for the leak. Same issue, in that the ambient temperature is the major part of the problem. The pack overheat also has fixes, but the bleed leak is 'no despatch'. So, even though you can be pretty sure there was no real leak, the issue will still have to be resolved.

We all were on board again for about 16.30 and then, again using the captains phraseology, the on board computers had an issue due to overheating and all engines and electronics had to be shut down - he described it as a "reboot".

It is a reboot. Solves lots of issues, though of limited use in flight.