'Blind' Qantas jet guided into airport

[Parche]

Porsche Centre Willoughby principal Sean Lygo told ninemsn that passengers on QF12 from Los Angeles to Sydney were awoken by a glorious sunrise — and a captain's announcement that the flight was being diverted to Auckland.

"The captain woke us up at sunrise and said 'we're on our way to Auckland' and I thought, 'that's weird — I thought I was going to Sydney'," he said.

"He explained they'd been flying blind and he'd found an Air New Zealand jet to guide them in.

"There was no drama, no panic — it was absolutely beautifully handled (but) that's not to say I wasn't wondering why the (radar) antenna had gone."

The Air New Zealand 747 was 35km away when the captain made radio contact requesting assistance.

It then sat 1000m off QF12's port wing and maintained radio contact until it guided the aircraft into Auckland Airport.

A Qantas spokeswoman confirmed a weather radar antenna had malfunctioned on the 12-year-old plane but added a replacement was flown to Auckland and the flight eventually landed in Sydney four hours late.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=657309




Mr Lygo — who flew on QF30 only four days before an oxygen tank blasted a large hole in the craft's fuselage — said the plane was "quite full" but passengers remained composed through the ordeal.

[El Supremo]

1. Quantas sure has been having lots of problems lately....

Say, how can you be awakened by a sunrise when flying west?

[Hawkowl]

2. Duh

See, the sun RISES in the East, but you notice all that sparkly stuff around you now? And how you can see much better? See the Sun, the big round, really, really bright ball? In the sky? It actually illuminates (sheds light) EVERYWHERE! It is like magic, non?

So, even though they are flying west, the sun throws light across the WHOLE sky.



Many apologies. I couldn't resist being a pilot and all.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. So what does the weather radar antenna actually do?

Assuming all your other instruments still work, how significant is the loss of this one instrument?

[Hawkowl]

4. Not indispensable

The weather radar's sole function is to detect precipitation; mainly rain in the form of thunderstorms. It is basically a thunderstorm detector. Airliners are prohibited from flying in instrument conditions (through clouds) unless they have a functioning weather radar. Flying through an actual thunderstorm could cause engine failure, hail damage, and severe structural damage from turbulence.