Narrative:

Flight departed and deviated around several areas of weather until ATC issued a hold at flo with an expect further clearance (efc) time of 30 minutes later. After completing all required tasks associated with holding at flo; crew advised ATC they would be able to hold for only 10 minutes due to limited holding fuel. ATC suggested a different routing around the weather into clt (in lieu of holding at flo) and the crew accepted it after assessing the weather displayed on their respective mfds. Due to a windshear alert in the vicinity of clt; the crew was issued a last minute clearance to hold at 4;000 ft northeast of the clt VOR on the 080 radial at the 25 DME fix with 10-mile legs. First officer (first officer) immediately set the holding fix and radial in green data and after maneuvering the aircraft (due to the last minute holding clearance issued by ATC) entered the hold as the captain (ca) recalled how to program the FMS with such a hold and then accomplished that task.after two circuits in the hold; ATC issued a 270 heading and the 'quickest' forward speed to clt after advising the crew advancing weather was rapidly approaching the clt perimeter from the north. The generic speed clearance was to allow the crew to close the 30-mile distance from the hold to clt in the shortest amount of time since no other aircraft were ahead of them. While heavy rain was visible north of the airport; runway 23 was visible and the crew called clt in sight.the delay in ATC issuing a visual approach to runway 23 and the required speed to arrive at the airport prior to the advancing weather; resulted in limited time to slow and configure the aircraft and capture the glide slope. After ATC made a comment concerning the speed of the aircraft on the 23 localizer; ca replied they were issued 'quickest' forward speed to the airport and the crew interpreted that as a clearance to exceed 250 KIAS (due to the distance between the hold and clt and the rapidly advancing weather). ATC replied the speed was no problem and other controllers were monitoring the approach just as observers.ca and first officer determined just inside the final approach fix (lecar) at approximately 2;750 ft; the aircraft was not in a position to make a stabilized descent and landing to runway 23 as the first officer began to configure the aircraft at 220 KIAS. At that time; multiple events occurred that led to the ca making the decision to divert to the filed alternate; gso. After ca advised tower the approach was being discontinued; a heading of 030 and climb to 3;000 ft was issued by ATC with the controller advising the crew they could circle back to rejoin the 23 localizer. As the first officer complied with the clearance; the ca witnessed 2 lightning strikes directly over clt. Simultaneously a wind gust report of 41 knots was issued by ATC. Based upon the rapidly deteriorating weather conditions on the airport; the ca advised ATC they would not circle back to rejoin the 23 localizer and would divert to gso. ATC subsequently cleared the flight direct gants direct gso at 9;000 ft. Despite the limited time and workload; the crew completed all required tasks associated with the diversion to gso and arrived after a 5R visual approach and landing. After over an hour delay at gso due to a clt ground stop and waiting for ATC routing to clt; the flight to clt was completed with an arrival 2 hours and 40 minutes after the original scheduled arrival time.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier flight crew reported experiencing thunderstorm weather demanding a divert to a nearby field.

Narrative: Flight departed and deviated around several areas of weather until ATC issued a hold at FLO with an Expect Further Clearance (EFC) time of 30 minutes later. After completing all required tasks associated with holding at FLO; crew advised ATC they would be able to hold for only 10 minutes due to limited holding fuel. ATC suggested a different routing around the weather into CLT (in lieu of holding at FLO) and the crew accepted it after assessing the weather displayed on their respective MFDs. Due to a windshear alert in the vicinity of CLT; the crew was issued a last minute clearance to hold at 4;000 FT NE of the CLT VOR on the 080 radial at the 25 DME fix with 10-mile legs. First Officer (FO) immediately set the holding fix and radial in green data and after maneuvering the aircraft (due to the last minute holding clearance issued by ATC) entered the hold as the Captain (CA) recalled how to program the FMS with such a hold and then accomplished that task.After two circuits in the hold; ATC issued a 270 heading and the 'quickest' forward speed to CLT after advising the crew advancing weather was rapidly approaching the CLT perimeter from the north. The generic speed clearance was to allow the crew to close the 30-mile distance from the hold to CLT in the shortest amount of time since no other aircraft were ahead of them. While heavy rain was visible north of the airport; runway 23 was visible and the crew called CLT in sight.The delay in ATC issuing a visual approach to runway 23 and the required speed to arrive at the airport prior to the advancing weather; resulted in limited time to slow and configure the aircraft and capture the glide slope. After ATC made a comment concerning the speed of the aircraft on the 23 localizer; CA replied they were issued 'quickest' forward speed to the airport and the crew interpreted that as a clearance to exceed 250 KIAS (due to the distance between the hold and CLT and the rapidly advancing weather). ATC replied the speed was no problem and other controllers were monitoring the approach just as observers.CA and FO determined just inside the final approach fix (LECAR) at approximately 2;750 FT; the aircraft was not in a position to make a stabilized descent and landing to runway 23 as the FO began to configure the aircraft at 220 KIAS. At that time; multiple events occurred that led to the CA making the decision to divert to the filed alternate; GSO. After CA advised tower the approach was being discontinued; a heading of 030 and climb to 3;000 FT was issued by ATC with the controller advising the crew they could circle back to rejoin the 23 localizer. As the FO complied with the clearance; the CA witnessed 2 lightning strikes directly over CLT. Simultaneously a wind gust report of 41 knots was issued by ATC. Based upon the rapidly deteriorating weather conditions on the airport; the CA advised ATC they would not circle back to rejoin the 23 localizer and would divert to GSO. ATC subsequently cleared the flight direct GANTS direct GSO at 9;000 FT. Despite the limited time and workload; the crew completed all required tasks associated with the diversion to GSO and arrived after a 5R visual approach and landing. After over an hour delay at GSO due to a CLT ground stop and waiting for ATC routing to CLT; the flight to CLT was completed with an arrival 2 hours and 40 minutes after the original scheduled arrival time.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.