Coming back from vacation, Eric’s plane had to make a stop at Liège airport before completing its journey to Brussels airport. A situation which questions this Namur resident, has his life been put in danger?
After a stay in the sun in the seaside resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, on the shores of the Red Sea, in Egypt, Eric and his wife returned to Belgium via a direct flight which was to take them back to Brussels. If the departure of the flight was delayed and some disruptions were experienced, it is mainly the end of the trip that will concern the couple.
Is there a risk of us crashing?
“The captain warns us that due to lack of fuel, we must stop in Liège“, says Eric. The announcement plunges the occupants into amazement: “Everyone was a little perplexed. We were like, ‘Are we being made fun of? Is there a risk of us crashing?’“. “We were scared, but when we saw the crew remaining calm and answering our questions without panic, we said to ourselves that there must be reservations.“
The stop and the rest of the journey to Brussels go well, but this unexpected stop strongly questions our witness. “I dare to imagine that they don’t refuel the plane by putting ‘just just just’ the minimum. Is it a question of economics? Who manages this? Is it the pilot who must manage its filling? Was there a mistake in Sharm El-Sheikh and they filled it out incorrectly? I would like to have an explanation from TUI fly.”
Consumption higher than expected
Contacted, the TUI company, which operated the flight, confirmed this deviation as well as the justification given by the on-board staff. “The plane went through various areas of turbulence and consumed more fuel than expected, especially towards the end of the flight. There is always a safety margin for the fuel level upon landing and the plane therefore had to be refueled in Liège. After which, he headed directly back to Brussels“, says Sarah Saucin, spokesperson for the company.
If, as Eric feared, the companies do not put “just” the necessary fuel, the planes do not refuel with fuel on each flight. It’s mathematical. The heavier a plane is, the more fuel it will consume. So calculations are made before each flight to know how much fuel the plane needs to complete its flight, to which we add a reserve quantity which must be used in the event of an unforeseen event (turbulence, strong headwind, need to land). elsewhere, etc.).
“If the plane has to descend in altitude to avoid a storm or other disturbances, then the plane will consume much more (because the air is denser, editor’s note) and there, on the basis of the calculations that we make practically all every half hour, it is considered better to divert the plane and land at another airport for security reasons“, explains former pilot Behrouz Shahabpour.
Well-established rules
Adding 1,000 liters of fuel for a 10-hour flight results in consuming a quarter of those 1,000 liters, just to transport them. We must therefore find the perfect balance between budget, ecology and safety.
“Everything regarding fuel rules is described extremely well in the aviation authority rules. The crews will respect it all the better since the on-board computers detect everything“, assures Alain Vanalderweireldt, president of the Belgian pilots’ association.
Cases of flights being diverted for this reason are very rare and accidents even more so, even if they remain possible.
tui plane plane deviated
