A Qantas crew was forced to declare an emergency to get priority landing at Perth airport when fuel stocks started running low.
The Australian Safety Transport Bureau is investigating the incident involving the QF933 flight from Brisbane.
The bureau reports a Boeing 737 was on its way from Brisbane when the crew declared an emergency on descent over Wave Rock, Western Australia, on 18 July.
“A final report will be released at the conclusion of the investigation,” the bureau said.
“However, should a critical safety issue be identified during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify relevant parties so appropriate safety action can be taken.”
Before departure, air traffic control advised the pilots to carry an extra 10 minutes’ worth of fuel due to expected delays in Perth, but the wait then blew out to 16 minutes. After 10 minutes of holding, pilots requested a priority landing and were told they needed to call a “mayday” for that to happen.
The plane landed with 10 minutes of fuel stocks as well as 30 minutes’ worth of reserve fuel.
Qantas’ chief pilot, Dick Tobiano, said there was “no safety issue”.
“Based on the pre-flight conditions, our pilots loaded fuel in accordance with [Civil Aviation Safety Authority] requirements and Qantas’ fuel policy,” he said.
“On approach into Perth, air traffic control requested the aircraft hold for longer than our pilots had previously been advised, and that to be given priority to land, our pilots 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.”
The ATSB said the plane landed with the reserves intact, there were no injuries, no damage to the plane, and that the investigation should be finished early next year.
