SQ makes emergency landing in Azerbaijan

[MrHyde]

Re: SQ's GYD A380 incident

I guess this is an area where airlines differ quite a bit and a little bit of emotional intelligence on part of the staff could have helped the situation.

I remember reading either JB or RdC or both in the QF issues stayed with the passengers to ensure arrangements were made and that they were kept fully informed. Didn't one of them even hand out his mobile number to any passenger and told them to contact him if they were not looked after by the ground staff. Things like that make a helluva difference to the experience of passengers.

In this case, it looks like the SQ crew used quickly exited and made their way to some hotel leaving the passengers behind in the terminal. (pure speculation on my part on the crew). It is quite likely that the visa requirements meant that passengers could be placed in hotels, but SQ needed someone to convey that information to the passengers and not having any ground staff in the country meant the crew needed to step up a bit (atleast till re-inforcements arrived from IST or SVO or wherever.

 

[legroom]

Just wondering. Should a major airline have contingency plans in place for emergency landing at every nation along or adjacent to their route? The A380 has a limited number of choices, so in that case its not an unworkable scheme.

Maybe SQ have, but this wasn't 'emergency' enough for them?

I wonder if airlines flying major routes couldn't band together and retain the services of an 'emergency' contact person at 'off the beaten track' places such as Baku and even places like Tehran who would 'spring into action' when one of the client planes makes a forced landing (or God forbid, worse) and activate the airline's emergency plan - be it mass hotel bookings / busses, or even showing up with comforting words?

I'm not sure how much time the SQ flight had before it touched down, but I'm guessing maybe an hour, but even something happening a couple of hours after touch down would be better than the 17 hours reports suggest (and I await a fuller story on the time it took for 'action' at the airport )

In one of his replies on the ASK THE PILOT thread, JB did mention that he and his crews are required to know of all airports along their routes in case of emergencies (like in this case).

By knowing, I assumed he was referring to the airport facilities (runway length etc..) and not so much about the post-incident incidentals like hotels, F & B for stranded passengers.

 

[AIRwin]

Probably crisis management maybe an area SQ is not very good in handling.

Still they have come a long way since their crisis in 2000...

 

[MrHyde]

By knowing, I assumed he was referring to the airport facilities (runway length etc..) and not so much about the post-incident incidentals like hotels, F & B for stranded passengers.

I don't expect the pilot or crew to be able to make hotel arrangements, F&B, etc; but they can stay with the passengers and provide the link between operations back home and the stranded passengers till they can hand over that task to someone else on the ground (once the ground support arrived from IST/SVO).

 

[Theky]

Re: SQ's GYD A380 incident

In this case, it looks like the SQ crew used quickly exited and made their way to some hotel leaving the passengers behind in the terminal. (pure speculation on my part on the crew)

Amazing how some armchair critics are so quick with their ill informed posts. Why speculate when you don't know anything at all?

 

[ermen]

Re: SQ's GYD A380 incident

What happens to the luggage? Goes with the new replacement flight?

 

[asg29e]

Re: SQ's GYD A380 incident

Amazing how some armchair critics are so quick with their ill informed posts. Why speculate when you don't know anything at all?

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I would have thought that if those photos were taken in Azerbaijan there would have been the odd sign or wall advertisment in Azerbaijani rather than ONLY English. So maybe these have nothing to do with this thread?

Just speculating, mind you, which we mustn't do.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

And if a Qantas 380 took off with a known leaking door seal and had to make an emergency landing there would be at least 50 comments here and media galore but as it's SQ it's allowed to go through to the keeper. A huge number of Australians travel on SQ.

i disagree with that... a QF a380 flew without water to DXB and no even a mention from the media... and someone reported they thought the problem had started on the inbound flight.

 

[mel-world]

Re: SQ's GYD A380 incident

It is quite likely that the visa requirements meant that passengers could be placed in hotels,

Why do you think the 500 pax, most likely from a variety of countries, could all be given visas at the airport? I would have thought the opposite.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Re: SQ's GYD A380 incident

I wonder if airlines flying major routes couldn't band together and retain the services of an 'emergency' contact person at 'off the beaten track' places such as Baku and even places like Tehran who would 'spring into action' when one of the client planes makes a forced landing (or God forbid, worse) and activate the airline's emergency plan - be it mass hotel bookings / busses, or even showing up with comforting words?

Many many years ago when I was on the second JQ flight to be cancelled out of HNL (the first one was a disaster by all accounts), everything was indeed handled by a third party. Soon after the notification of the cancelled flights someone from XYZ company turned up at the airport and had everything organised... buses and hotels... and then when we arrived at the various hotels there were more reps from XYZ company to hand out room keys, meal vouchers, phone cards and a letter explaining the new flight time (next day QF charter) and pick-up arrangements.

It was all done in about an hour.

...

Is this a new policy of SQ (i.e. to decline to provide overnight hotel accommodation when such incidents occur)

what makes you think it is a new policy?

as you pointed out - there are many issues to be considered... visas, buses, hotel rooms, availability of immigration staff. It's all going to depend on the location of the diversion and whether or not they have an established protocol in the particular city.

 

[jb747]

In one of his replies on the ASK THE PILOT thread, JB did mention that he and his crews are required to know of all airports along their routes in case of emergencies (like in this case).

By knowing, I assumed he was referring to the airport facilities (runway length etc..) and not so much about the post-incident incidentals like hotels, F & B for stranded passengers.

Our only interest is in the airport and it's operational facilities. When you need a piece of tar in a hurry, the availability of beds isn't a consideration.

I see various people complaining that they should have gone to Dubai. The distance from the middle of Afghanistan to Dubai is roughly the same as the distance to Baku. There is very high terrain in Iran, which rather gets in the way. Ashgabat is actually the closest usable airport. High terrain is the big factor in any decision made in that part of the world. Depending upon just where the problem occurred, the safety heights get up to around 20,000 feet, i.e. you can't descend to 10,000 feet no matter how much you'd like to.

This event wasn't caused by a leaking door seal. There are a couple of interesting pictures floating around of the door itself. I'll have to remember to look at a door tonight, to see if I can work out what has happened.

Looking after the passengers once on the ground is quite problematic if you don't have any local staff available to you. When I went to Manila, we had an airport manager available, who co-opted staff from Cathay as well as his own, so they were fairly quickly able to arrange hotels and transport. The airport immigration and customs people were also very helpful.

 

[Happy Trails]

Any similarity to the EK A380 whistling door seal episode last year?
Though that seems to have been a non-event.

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....news/ek-has-another-oops-between-47589-2.html

 

[legroom]

..... Our only interest is in the airport and it's operational facilities. When you need a piece of tar in a hurry, the availability of beds isn't a consideration....

While I accept there might have been some inconveniences here or there, the key issue is - as JB identified - a safe landing.

The remoteness of the selected airport, the lack of on-site support staff etc... did not help.

Baku is not exactly HKG or CDG in terms of facilities and hotel choices.

Maybe I need to plan for a set of warm clothes in my carry-on ..... just in case, someday !

 

[mannej]

Re: SQ's GYD A380 incident

I would have thought that if those photos were taken in Azerbaijan there would have been the odd sign or wall advertisment in Azerbaijani rather than ONLY English. So maybe these have nothing to do with this thread?

Just speculating, mind you, which we mustn't do.

To be fair, the photo's only have 2 adds. One you can see clearly (in English), and the other you can't due to the angle of the shot. My gut feeling is that going by the facial language of the crew, something has obviously gone on...

 

[Fruitcake]

There are a couple of interesting pictures floating around of the door itself.

From Airline Hub Buzz on Facebook:


And from the inside, a picture by a Matthew G. Johnson from Facebook:

 

[asg29e]

Re: SQ's GYD A380 incident

To be fair, the photo's only have 2 adds. One you can see clearly (in English), and the other you can't due to the angle of the shot. My gut feeling is that going by the facial language of the crew, something has obviously gone on...

Possibly. Probably even. But where? The context of the post is that they were taken at Baku, (although it doesn't explicitly state this.) Happy to be proven wrong but I call shenanigans.

 

[legroom]

Re: SQ's GYD A380 incident

Possibly. Probably even. But where? The context of the post is that they were taken at Baku, (although it doesn't explicitly state this.) Happy to be proven wrong but I call shenanigans.

I did not follow your logic, sorry.

You think you may be correct but having had the caution, you would still call the photos "shenanigans" regardless.

I have no factual knowledge and thus have made no call whatsoever.

Perhaps one would be well advised to stick to the known facts before reaching a "shenanigan" conclusion.

Regards

 

[mannej]

Re: SQ's GYD A380 incident

I did not follow your logic, sorry.

You think you may be correct but having had the caution, you would still call the photos "shenanigans" regardless.

I have no factual knowledge and thus have made no call whatsoever.

Perhaps one would be well advised to stick to the known facts before reaching a "shenanigan" conclusion.

Regards

I agree - one sign in English doesn't prove either way, but the body language I see does suggest that the FA's have been through an incident.
One of the female attendants does look quite alarmed doesn't she?

 

[markis10]

Re: SQ's GYD A380 incident

Possibly. Probably even. But where? The context of the post is that they were taken at Baku, (although it doesn't explicitly state this.) Happy to be proven wrong but I call shenanigans.

Always interesting to see different perspectives even from people in the same situation, ie this photo showing a different angle of what is clearly the same location of the earlier photo, saying no crew anywhere

https://mobile.twitter.com/CountBeaky/status/420238270858285056/photo/1?screen_name=CountBeaky

and this one

https://mobile.twitter.com/DrVCardo/status/420007174446653440/photo/1?screen_name=DrVCardo

 

[maninblack]

i disagree with that... a QF a380 flew without water to DXB and no even a mention from the media... and someone reported they thought the problem had started on the inbound flight.

What do you mean without water?
For the toilets?
To drink?
If there was no mention from the media how do you know about it?
Who is this 'someone' and what has the inbound flight got to do with having no water?