Wednesday, 29 July 2015 - 13:31
Low-fuel Transavia landing under investigation
Transavia and the Dutch Safety Board are investigating the bumpy landing of the Transavia flight from Spain to Rotterdam on Saturday. One of the things the investigations will look at is Eindhoven Airport's actions while the low on fuel plain was looking for somewhere to land, AD reports.
The Transavia flight was initially scheduled to land in Rotterdam, but found it too windy due to the massive summer storm that hit the Netherlands on Saturday. Based on the communications between the airplane and the Rotterdam tower, after the unit prepared to land, the plane made another round due to the wind. The pilot told the dower that they are deciding whether to try landing again or rather go to Schiphol. The tower contacted Schiphol and then informed the pilot that there will probably be a 40 minute delay. "That's a bit long." the pilot responded. "Then Eindhoven is the best option."
The Rotterdam tower then contacted Eindhoven to ask permission from the military for the plane to land there. Eindhoven told the Rotterdam tower that they will call them back. "Well, in our opinion that should happen quite quickly because it's not nice to hang out in this weather with so little fuel.", the pilot said once the tower informed them.
Eindhoven Airport eventually refused the plane and Schiphol managed to work its landing into the schedule.
Since April Eindhoven Airport has not been used as a diverting airport for passenger planes, but can be used in an emergency. Eindhoven's decision not to allow the plane to land confused the Rotterdam tower, and they contacted Eindhoven again after the incident. According to a spokesperson for Air Traffic Control Netherlands, the plane landing at Eindhoven could not be justified because the pilot had not indicated that they are in trouble.
Listen to the communication between the Transavia flight and the Rotterdam tower below:
https://soundcloud.com/tra3k