The pilots of a Qantas passenger jet were forced to declare a “mayday” on a transcontinental flight after running low on fuel as they were put in a midair queue with other planes near Perth.
Qantas Flight 933 made the emergency call several hundred kilometres east of Perth on Monday, which has since sparked an investigation by air safety authorities. The pilots’ decision to issue the mayday happened as inbound planes to Perth were put into holding patterns due to delays at the West Australian capital’s airport.
Qantas Flight 933 was flying between Brisbane and Perth on Monday.Credit: Flightradar24
The Qantas Boeing 737 aircraft had arrived within Perth airspace with an extra 20 minutes’ worth of fuel when air traffic controllers told the pilots that an expected holding period had extended to 16 minutes.
The pilots were told that they would have to declare a mayday to get priority to land before four other planes circling Perth.
The Qantas Boeing 737-838 aircraft, which had departed Brisbane more than five hours earlier, eventually landed safely at Perth Airport in what air-safety investigators describe as a “fuel mayday on descent”. A “fuel mayday” call by pilots is rare.
The pilots were in danger of landing without legally required reserves of fuel onboard if they had not declared the mayday.
Qantas Flight 933 made the emergency call several hundred kilometres east of Perth.Credit: flightradar24
In response to questions, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau confirmed that it was investigating a “low fuel event” involving the Qantas 737 aircraft, which occurred above Wave Rock in Western Australia on Monday.
“During descent, the crew declared an emergency due to the amount of fuel on board and proceeded to land at Perth. The aircraft landed with reserves intact,” it said.
The air-safety bureau said a final report would be released once its investigation was completed. However, it will recommend safety measures earlier if a “critical safety issue” is identified during the investigation.
Qantas chief pilot Dick Tobiano said air traffic controllers had requested the aircraft remain in a holding pattern for longer than the QF933 pilots had previously been advised, and that to be given priority to land they needed to make a fuel mayday call.
“The aircraft landed with 40 minutes of fuel in the tank, which is well above the minimum requirements. Our pilots followed the correct procedures and there was no safety issue with the flight,” he said in a statement.
Tobiano said the pilots had loaded fuel based on pre-flight conditions in accordance with the requirements of Australia’s air-safety regulator and Qantas’ fuel policy.
Jet fuel is one of the single biggest costs for airlines. Qantas announced last month that it will cut the number of domestic flights until March next year in response to high fuel prices.
Australian and International Pilots’ Association president Tony Lucas said regulations here and globally require a pilot to declare “mayday fuel” if they find themselves in a situation where they expect to land with less than their minimum fuel reserve.
Lucas, an A330 check and training captain, said Qantas pilots had “significant discretion” under civil aviation orders about how much fuel they ordered, and would order extra “above and beyond company-identified minimums” to cover contingencies during flights.
“On some flights the en-route and destination weather and air traffic control environments conspire to result in a situation where we end up in a ‘minimum fuel’ situation,” he said. “These occur rarely considering the numbers of flights operated.”
Both the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Airservices Australia, which manages the country’s airspace, were approached for comment.
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.