By Aeruxo � Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations The TCAS alert came through on ACARS as a post-flight report: “RA EVENT. FL350. CLIMB ISSUED. SEPARATION ACHIEVED.” The crew’s debrief note was three lines long. They had been cruising at 35,000 feet over the East China Sea when TCAS detected … Read more
By Aeruxo � Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations The braking action report came in seven minutes before our aircraft was on final approach: “POOR. Runway 14L. Reported by B737 at 1423Z.” I pulled up the landing distance calculation immediately. Our aircraft needed 1,840 metres to stop under normal conditions. … Read more
By Aeruxo � Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations The crew reported it as a “severe jolt” that lasted approximately four seconds. They were 7 nautical miles behind an Airbus A380 on approach to the same runway�well outside the standard ATC separation minimum, or so the initial report suggested. What … Read more
By Aeruxo � Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations The message came through 22 minutes after departure: “ENGINE INDICATING ABNORMAL OIL PRESSURE. RETURNING TO BASE.” I already had the aircraft’s current fuel load on my screen�142 tonnes at takeoff, burning approximately 9 tonnes per hour per engine. Maximum landing weight … Read more
By Aeruxo � Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations The ACARS came in at cruise: “CARGO SMOKE. FWD HOLD. DESCENDING.” Three words and an altitude trend�that was all I needed to shift every other task off my desk. Within 60 seconds I had the nearest three divert airports on my … Read more
By Aeruxo � Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations Most passengers think oxygen masks dropping means something is about to go terribly wrong. It doesn�t. In fact, rapid decompression is one of the most survivable emergencies in aviation�if the system works the way it was designed. But in the first … Read more
By Aeruxo � Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations The ATIS at Gimpo was reporting 50 meters RVR. To put that in perspective: standing at one end of a 50-meter swimming pool, you would not be able to see the other wall. Yet I was tracking an Airbus A320 on … Read more
By Aeruxo � Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations The call came in at 2:14 in the morning. “Dispatch, this is the captain on Hotel-Juliet-Lima. We have hydraulic pressure loss on system two. We’re declaring PAN PAN. Request priority handling at Incheon and emergency services on standby.” Within 90 seconds, … Read more
By Aeruxo � Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations The pilot’s voice was calm: “Incheon Dispatch, we just took a lightning hit. No abnormal indications. Continuing to destination. Will request maintenance inspection on arrival.” I noted the time, checked the aircraft’s system status on my screen�all green�and logged the event. … Read more
By Aeruxo � Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations You�re flying over the Pacific. Three hours in�nothing but ocean below. No land. No ships. Just water in every direction. Then a question hits you: What happens if one engine fails right now? The answer is not what most people think. … Read more