Wednesday, Shanghai to Sydney. What an interesting departure. On arrival at the aircraft the dispatching engineer grabbed me and highlighted reports from the captains of the last two flights (Bangkok – Sydney – Shanghai) that indicated the aircraft had used around 1 tonne of fuel extra per flight than planned. Inspections of the airframe and engines could find no reason. I agreed to take the aircraft although we opted to load an extra 1.5 tonnes to cover this in case it was repeated on our sector. There are also plenty of options en-route (Guam, Port Moresby, Cairns, Brisbane) to drop in to if we had fuel usage concerns during the flight. During the pre-flight preparation we are required to check many things including the status of flight crew oxygen (a supply dedicated for pilots separate from passenger cabin use). Normally this sits at 1500 psi but tonight it was 1257 psi. This is below the dispatch minimum of 1330 psi. Problem: there was no facility (that we had access to—cost cutting) at Shanghai to top up the supply. Whilst debating this with the engineer we noticed that the level was dropping. This indicated that the system was leaking. The aircraft was carrying a defect from several days ago related to the First Officer’s oxygen equipment which had been rectified in the short term by swapping it with the Second Observer’s unit which is only used if a fourth person is carried on the flight deck. I suspected that the leak was related to the swapping of units several days earlier. Discussions with engineers in Sydney via Satellite Phone revealed that the absolute minimum for dispatch with three pilots was 740 psi so we were ok there. I accepted that we could dispatch having satisfied that however wouldn’t accept the aircraft with a demonstrated leak. It was argued however that the leak rate would ensure the flight was completed with sufficient oxygen remaining at the end. I still refused; what if the leak rate increased in-flight, what if the fitting or hose causing the leak, failed completely with the result of a sudden loss of oxygen? Whilst this wouldn’t affect the operation of the aircraft, this scenario would require in immediate precautionary descent to10,000 ft. as in the further subsequent event of a depressurisation without supplementary oxygen available, we would suffer oxygen starvation (death ☹) prior to getting down to 10,000 ft. using the emergency descent procedure which takes around 5 minutes from 35, 000 ft. A precautionary descent would require diversion to land as our fuel use at lower levels is astronomical and would preclude proceeding to Sydney. We also had the issue of crossing New Guinea. Terrain in this region is up to just under 20, 000 ft. (photo attached) and would require oxygen until we could manoeuvre the aircraft to a clear area that enabled descent to a lower level where oxygen is not required (10,000ft). So, short answer was: not taking the aircraft until we find the leak and, need to find and stop the leak before the oxygen leaks to a figure below our dispatch minimum. This triggered an influx of engineers to the flight deck. I needed to vacate my seat as they needed access to the hatch leading to the equipment bay below the flight deck—my seat sits over it unless placed fully forward. The other problem was that by now we had all passengers on board who were expectant of an imminent departure. I made a PA advising that we had an indication problem with one of our systems—didn’t want to alarm them with problems regarding pilot oxygen supplies—and promised to update them in 30 minutes if we didn’t have a resolution by then. I left the F/O and S/O in charge of the procedures on the flight deck and walked the cabin to reassure the passengers and crew that all was well and that we wouldn’t be going anywhere until I was completely satisfied that the aircraft was safe. As suspected there were several passengers who suffered fear of flying and this situation had the visibly anxious. Thirty minutes passed with no leak source found, another PA advising 30 minutes more. Still another 30 minute went by and no progress. Problem now was that the passengers were getting antsy. They had a long flight ahead and were still sitting on the ground going nowhere. We had run out of champagne in Business Class and were resupplying. Discussions with the engineers revealed they were no closer to finding the leak. Problem was that it takes between 30 to 50 minute to unload and reboard the passengers, even if the reboard starts straight away. I reckoned we had one more 30-minute block left before we would need to disembark all. This created another problem, as pilots we are limited to a planned duty of 14 hours. The individuals can accept to extend to 16 hours however that is the company limit. Legally we can extend to 20 hours which I’ve done three times in my career however it’s not pretty. Tough landing at the end when you’ve been up all night for that amount of time. Both the F/O and S/O agreed to extend if necessary to keep the show on the road however we were getting to the stage that even with extensions we would be unable to complete the flight. I advised the crew to get ready to unload the aircraft and asked the Airport Manager to start collecting options for hotels and transport for the passengers. At this point we had good news from the engineers, they had found the leak and needed another 10 minutes to ensure the leak had disappeared. A tense 10 minutes watching but the oxygen remained stabilised at 1237 psi—great stuff. Paperwork now, the write-ups took another 10 minutes and off we went. In the meantime the weather at Shanghai had deteriorated, visibility was down to a couple of thousand metres in mist with occasional; drops to several hundred metres in fog. Problem here was getting back in if we had a problem on departure. We collected information on our options and had Hangzhou and Jeju (Korea) available if necessary—off we go. Once airborne the problems continued. A Business Class passenger had plugged a CPAP machine (sleep apnoea breathing device) in to his computer power outlet and blown the electrical circuit for those seats. These machines normally require engineering approval to ensure they are compliant with the aircraft electrical supply and are fitted at special designated outlets. I asked the flight attendants to get the make/model of his machine to see if we could get confirmation from engineering in Sydney via the SAT phone that it was an approved unit. In the meantime, I asked them to start sensitive negotiations with the passenger seated close to the approved outlet asking if they would be happy to move so that this gent could access the outlet for his machine. Problem solved, machine ok and passenger moved (with the help of a good bottle of red as a sweetener to the gent who agreed to move). Whilst monitoring our oxygen supply it became obvious that the leak had resumed. Over two hours we dropped 70 psi, which gave us a rate of 35 psi/hour. By now, we were south of Japan and on our way across the pacific to pass abeam Guam. We needed to complete the flight with a minimum of 740 psi to stay legal. Calculations indicated that provided the rate remained the same we would land below 1,00 psi but above the minimum. The leak rate subsequently reduced and at the end of the flight was (only…) 10 psi. All good!! Arrival in to Sydney was very standard, right circuit to land on 34 left. Ended up a 14 ½ hour tour of duty with a flight time of 10 hours 21 minutes. Fuel burn was completely normal as per the flight plan and was reported as such. As well as writing the leak up again, I rang our fleet manager to report that the aircraft needed the oxy fixed prior to further flight. The aircraft was due to head off to Bangkok an hour later. Whilst hoping it would be properly addressed, it was possible that they would just top it up and send it out again as all they needed to comply with was pre dispatch requirements. He assured me it would be taken off line until fixed. Due to two Shanghai trips with a day off between, my Flight and Duty Time records have me sitting on 42.5 stick hours in the last 7 days. There is a limit of 30 hours in 7 days for two pilot crews however operations with three pilots or greater are unlimited. There is however a limit of 100 hours max in 30 days and 900 hours in any 365 days. Next trip on Monday, a four day Domestic shuttle between Sydney, Perth and Melbourne. Will miss State of Origin as departing Wed night to fly through to Sydney arriving Thursday morning—bugger!!
Posted on: Fri, 21 Jun 2013 05:21:13 +0000
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