zakruti.com » Travels » The Luxury Travel Expert

Japan Airlines B777-300ER Business Class London to Tokyo (technical problem)

video description

Rating: 4.0; Vote: 1

Japan Airlines B777-300ER Business Class London to Tokyo (technical problem) xetalq: The refuelling was required because of: -1. the taxi out and taxi back to the gate would likely have been closer to half an hour all told (rather than just 5 minutes)2. then the Auxiliary Power Unit ('APU') would have been running for the hour you were at the gate (this would burn more fuel)3. after the mechanical issue was fixed, the next taxy out to the runway would have burned further fuel, prior to take offAdd all these together, and the crew would likely have been looking at the loss of 3, 000+ kg before finally getting off the ground in London. Now, the heavier an aircraft is, the more fuel it burns, on any given route. The fuel load adds to the total aircraft weight at take off. Thus, you can see that: . it costs fuel to carry fuel. Ie the more fuel that's loaded before take off, the more will be burnt en route from London to Tokyo. Fuel is expensive (it can be 30% of all operating costs, so airlines operate profitably only if they minimise fuel loads (and, thus, fuel burns, as far as possible. This means loading only as much fuel before push back as is absolutely necessary to ensure a safe flight. At the flight briefing unit ('FBU', where the crew first meets up about an hour and a half prior to departure, they are presented with a computer flight plan ('CFP', which states a computed fuel load. The CFP fuel load (referred to as: 'flight plan fuel') takes into account the weight of the expected payload (pax + cargo, the filed route, the winds aloft and weather en route, and the distance to the filed alternate airport (in case the weather at the intended destination deteriorates unexpectedly, and a diversion becomes necessary, and any holding which might be needed. This CFP fuel load must, at minimum, be enough to allow the aircraft to: -1. to operate from point of departure to destination, plus; 2. make an approach to landing, plus; 3. make a missed approach, and divert to the filed alternate, plus; 4. make an approach to landing at the alternate, plus a missed approach there, too, plus; 5. hold for 30 minutes at 1, 500' AAL ('Above Aerodrome Elevation'. plus 5% of the total of all the above. If the Captain of the flight, after discussing the matter with his crew, thinks - in his professional opinion - that more fuel should be loaded over and above flight plan fuel (ie the 'CFP fuel load', then he has the discretion and authority to do so. But once that fuel load is decided, it becomes - in the opinion of the Pilot in Command - the minimum fuel to be aboard before the aircraft pushes back from the gate. Once you've pushed back, there's no way to add more fuel before you land at the destination. As you can see, this minimum fuel is carefully calculated, and is loaded to the nearest litre/kg, even in a huge aircraft like a 777-300ER. But if you taxy out to the runway, then taxy back to the gate and hold at the gate for an hour, and you're facing another taxy back out to the runway, then you're still looking at being 3, 000 kg BELOW what the Captain has decided is the absolute minimum fuel he considers safe for the flight. The career goal of every professional pilot is simply to retire at the end of a 40 year career. This, in turn, is best achieved, by never ever running out of fuel prior to landing. :)Besides which, as every pilot will tell you, the three most useless things in the world are: -a. runway behind youb. altitude above youc. fuel in the bowser (instead of the aircraft)We are incredibly cautious by nature, and just do not take any risks that can be avoided: you may have 400 pax, 21 other crew members (plus yourself) aboard, and they all deserve your very best professional efforts, and the full benefit of your judgement and experience. So, you take very very good care of them all. Plus, one of the tried and true nostrums of aviation is this: there are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are NO old bold pilots. So, if you're 3, 000 kg down on minimum fuel for the flight, you take no chances: you refuel before pushing back from the gate, again. I'd have done exactly the same thing.
Date: 2019-09-06

← InterContinental Muscat (Oman): impressions & review

Ultraluxe AMANPURI, flagship resort of Aman (Phuket, Thailand): review (FABULOUS BEACH) →

Related videos

Iraq 4K - Scenic Relaxation Film With Calming Music

• Scenic Relaxation

CHICA RURAL 30 años, busca novio para su pueblo SUIZO

• Miguel Glez

Bodrum with Kelsey Robinson Cook: Relaxation, Boat Tour & Beach Bites - The Way Back

• Expedia

FINLANDIA - EL PAIS de las RUBIAS

• Gustavo Llusa

I Flew The LONGEST Flight on Any US Airline

• Jeb Brooks

Windy Sunrise Walk at Chicago's Lakefront - Navy Pier & Lake Michigan 8K HDR

• Nomadic Ambience

Comments and reviews: 9

Lachlan Hall
Well, you said that it was only an indicator light? That is a broad term, probably used to not cause distress. However if an indicator popped up and they had to refuel afterwards, my guess is that the fuel pressure indicator light went off. Which is odd as this is a problem more inherent with the A380 not the B777 in general. They (JAL) would have to refuel because the fuel pressure indicator may be indicative of a fuel leak somewhere on board because as fuel is lost, the smaller amount of fuel is reaching the engines which triggers the warning, so they returned in order to prevent a catastrophe. As they looked to find it, they would refuel so that the fuel/pressure 'lost' can be brought back to par. They are also a Japanese airline which means that the rigidness in Japanese culture would demand this behavior. They like to do everything right, there is no half-assing in Japan. This is why Japanese transportation is known for being on time damn near 100% of the time. So when a light came on they followed protocol to the letter. Don't worry about it though, probably a faulty light from an older plane. No worries.
reply

Bence Esztegár
The reason the plane need's to be refuelled is because the pilot decides how much fuel the airplane need for the ENTIRE flight from taxi on take off until taxi on landing. The pilot figures this out taking into account many conditions including weather distance etc. Also the APU needs to be running from the gate and the APU isn't the most economical piece of equipment as it needs tu supply power for most of the electrical circuits the lights IFE screens etc. as well a the Air Conditioning using APU bleed. The APU is also responsible for starting the main engines.
reply

Ian Dunbar-Reid
A very impressive trip report. JAL offer a very superior product. The delay before departure may have been slightly irritating, but I would much rather be still on the ground when this happens. Are passengers served through the tiny space between the seat and the aisle? The food looked lovely, made my mouth water. I have flown on the 777 (not with JAL, and I found it to be a wonderful aircraft. Much quieter inside than I thought it would be. Thanks again, I really enjoyed that experience.
reply

Vlogger Fiend
Maybe the fuel indicator isn't giving the right amount of fuel loaded on the plane? Maybe while refueling it says it has the right amount of fuel needed for the trip but when the plane starts taxiing and the pilots starts turning on other indicators and so on and so on. the fuel indicator is showing less fuel loaded on the plane than what was really needed for the trip. that's why they needed a 2nd refueling? hehehe. beginner assumption. but a logical one.
reply

George Parker
Hello, First of all, great and detailed video. The fault I'm unsure off, probably a sensor somewhere giving the pilots a takeoff config issue, not allowing them to takeoff. The fuel - The 'APU' is a small generator in the tail off the aircraft which gives the aircraft electronic power when the engines are not running, by using fuel. As you need a certain amount of reserve fuel, a refuel was needed to ensure you had enough. Happy flying
reply

Thailand Anti - Corruption
Hi i just followed you. May i ask what kind of machine you are using for record this video? It's really good quality and i believed it is small machine for video record. I am planning to travel around the world this year and looking for all gear to get ready. So if you could let me know and also accessories to make this quality of video please kindly let me know. Thank you in advance.
reply

lcbp2009
People are trying to find some explanation for the refueling and gave some highly technical explanation but IMO the reason for refueling is because the plane stayed there with all it's passengers for more than 1 hours. During that time it has to consume energy for AC, light etc. And the electricity is generated by the small power unit that consume the fuel. So obviously it needs to be refuelled.
reply

TheGreekPilot
The most sure reason to refuel is this: The fuel calcuator must show that the plane has enough fuel for the destination in order to avoid fuel starvation stall because of low airspeed. Take for example united airlines flight 173 which crashed because of fuel starvation. If they had more fuel, they would reach their destinion
reply

someblackguy225
it also could be the fact that they only took on enough fuel for the flight (common for most aircraft) and they wanted to make sure that they had enough in reserve just incase something where to happen and when they taxied out and back in they used up that reserve and needed to take it back in - from an aircraft mechanic
reply

Add a review, comment