SQ 868 The tale of the missed approach

[matt_will_fix_it]

Yesterday I took SQ868 SIN to HKG. I wasn’t planning on writing a trip report for this flight as it was supposed to be just the usual SIN to HKG quiet Saturday afternoon flight. Arrive by 7pm, having dinner with colleagues by 9pm, not a problem! However it was not to be as you’ll read below….

Before takeoff the pilot gave us the usual run though of the weather conditions on route. He said it would be a bit turbulent coming into Hong Kong, and we should be arriving as per schedule. As we got closer to Hong Kong the first officer informed us that we would wait about 100 miles out of HKG in a holding position. We were waiting there for about 20 minutes and the captain gave us another update, this time that the HKG airport is closed due to bad weather (I think he said 40 knot winds, couldn’t hear too clearly). He said that we’d stay in holding here for up to 2 hours before diverting to Kaohsing or Taipei. After about another 40 minutes the HKG air traffic control had given us the permission to land so we proceeded to the airport.

The cabin crew prepared the cabin for arrival. The further we descended, the more turbulent it became. It was the first time I could actually hear the wind gushing against the plane, not that you could see anything, it all looked pretty normal outside.

15 minutes to landing… 10 minutes to landing, and about 4 or 5 minutes to landing we could see the city of Hong Kong, the Peak & the harbor. It all looked pretty peaceful down there, but our pilot was definitely earning his money bringing the plane in. I’m no expert, but it appeared that the wind was blowing us sideways (crosswind?) and we would also drop suddenly (wind shear?). We got as close as seeing the runway before the engines went to full thrust & we ascended very quickly! My first missed approach!

So we go back to holding & now we’re off to Kaohsiung, due to arrive at 21:35… my first time to Taiwan (not that I’d planned on going there)…. Post more details on the trip soon!

p.s. the cabin crew & pilots have been great – nothing they could do about the conditions but they have kept us updated on the situation & out extra refreshments & kept Krisworld on (although no AVOD on this bird!)

Not the regular flight routing!

[Singapore_Air]

How exciting!

[StarG]

I have experienced just one aborted landing, and it was in Singapore.
But we were not diverted anywhere - we just went around and the second approach landed us in Singapore.

[Lobster]

I have experienced just one aborted landing, and it was in Singapore.
But we were not diverted anywhere - we just went around and the second approach landed us in Singapore.

I experienced the same several times coming into LHR the pilots have always announced that it was due to the plane before us not having clearered the runway.

After seeing that video of the LH plane landing in high winds and the tip of its wing on the runway glad to hear in this case the pilots aborted and diverted.

[zxcvbn]

Yes. Weather was horrible in HK yesterday, Typhoon 3 warning, with Black Rainstorm.

Local news reported many flights being diverted, majority to TPE, KHH, MNL, XIA.

At least the weather is good now..

[kelvgoh]

my last trip to HKG was blighted by possibly the worst weather conditions i've experienced on a landing approach. somewhat similar to what matt described, but the captain brought the bird safely down.

just found it interesting how long the captain was happy to keep the bird in stack. probably burned off all the fuel meant for the return back to SIN.

[zxcvbn]

SQ862 that departed SIN yesterday only arrived this morning at 1156. Even with the divert to TPE, why the long delay?

[matt_will_fix_it]

Whilst in the air I was a bit worried that we wouldn’t have enough fuel (maybe I’ve been watching too much Air Crash Investigation on National Geographic!. I saw on one of those shows that planes are only loaded with enough fuel for the flight and a missed approach, but not much more. But again, I’m sure the captain knew what he was doing and we were on our way to Kaohsiung.

Upon landing at Kaohsiung (where there was no sign of any bad weather) there were many others in the same boat – must be 14+ wide bodies here, 4 or more from Cathay, 1 Air France, 2 Thai Airways, Dragon Air to name a few. Kaohsiung doesn’t look like an airport made for these kind of passenger numbers, so it looks like we’ll be waiting in the plane ‘till the storm passes in HK.

I was hoping to be able to get out of the plane & stretch the legs (after all it had been at 6 hour flight so far). However it wasn’t to be. I guess it made sense, as it wasn’t an airport that SQ flies from, so there would be no facilities on the ground anyway. We did get some water & peanuts when on the ground (and one guy got the last pot of instant noodles) but after a while all the food (at least in Economy) had run out. People had also purchased all the chocolates from Krisshop too! I’d be interested to know what the passengers in C & F received, but in Y it was very little once we were stuck! I wonder if all the Dom had been finished. Or could they even serve it on the ground due to import duties?

I was getting worried that the crew would exceed their maximum working hours & we’d be stuck overnight on the aircraft, but then the captain said that we would begin refueling & then seek clearance to land in HK.

I can imagine how flat out the ground staff must have been at Kaohsiung, dealing unexpectedly with so many aircraft at the same time. After an hour or so we started refueling (which seemed to take an eternity), and slightly before midnight we were cleared to return to Hong Kong. The flight to HK was pretty non-eventful this time (no meal or drink service). It was still pretty turbulent landing in HK this time, but at least we were on the ground safely.

Thanks for reading!

[zxcvbn]

Great Matt, can't wait for the rest of the TR.

[matt_will_fix_it]

SQ862 that departed SIN yesterday only arrived this morning at 1156. Even with the divert to TPE, why the long delay?

Maybe everyone stayed the night in a hotel? In our case we just stayed on board for a few hours before going to HKG.

If we were allowed to go into the terminal, I can imagine the nightmare of trying to round everyone up in the terminal after de-planing.

[zxcvbn]

I just thought of another one: maybe crew exceeded operating hours.

Nevertheless, I feel sorry for CX's passengers and staff now, their rotation schedules are messed up and many flights cancelled or delayed (like the JNB flight yesterday got delayed 23:45 hours!!)

[SQflyergirl]

I think the Captain's trying to tell us something! Looks like a "1" from here. What does that mean?

[jjpb3]

I hope you've had a good break in Taiwan, matt_will_fix_it. What an adventure, and thanks for sharing!

(My only aborted landing has been on LH, and it was spooky enough for me. Like StarG, we landed on the second approach.)

[YK@HKG]

Indeed, there was a Black Rainstorm Warning and Typhoon No 3 Signal Warning. Flights and ferries were cancelled. CX and KA will be anxious to clear their backlogs.

Strangely, I expected another round of bad weather on Sunday, only to wake up and see that it's all normal

[sqforever]

Wow, what an experience! I've never had an aborted landing, but I was on a Xiamen Airlines flight from SYX to XMN and a typhoon had just passed through. I too could hear the wind hitting the plane and had sudden drops, with the engines winding up soon after. Very creepy experience. We ended up landing at a high speed and braking harder than usual, I believe a go around should have been executed. Hope you're enjoying yourself in Kaohsiung matt_will_fix_it!