 |
37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
A319 captain reported a new TRACON procedure that resulted in increased fuel burn and minimum fuel status on multiple flights.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1496327 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201711 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | I90.TRACON |
| State Reference | TX |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | A319 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Final Approach |
| Route In Use | Vectors |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Total 4752 Flight Crew Type 1950 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue |
Narrative:
New policy for iah TRACON; all arrivals are to be treated as IFR (even on clear days) and expect a 30 nm downwind leg prior to turning final. Twice today we got these extended finals. Coming from the west and landing west (eastern downwind leg); not knowing this as a new policy we flew at 3000 ft; 210 KIAS for some 100 +/- extra miles; burning an estimated additional 2500 lbs. Of fuel for the endeavor. As a result we were at min fuel for the first landing (not declared as we had been visual of the airport for 30+ mins) and near the same for the second landing (clear skies both events; 1st landing 8-10 nm behind interval and 2nd landing 17 nm behind interval!) this new policy needs to be communicated to crews and dispatchers to fuel plan accordingly!
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A319 Captain reported a new TRACON procedure that resulted in increased fuel burn and minimum fuel status on multiple flights.
Narrative: New policy for IAH TRACON; ALL arrivals are to be treated as IFR (even on clear days) and expect a 30 nm downwind leg prior to turning final. Twice today we got these extended finals. Coming from the west and landing west (eastern downwind leg); not knowing this as a new policy we flew at 3000 ft; 210 KIAS for some 100 +/- extra miles; burning an estimated additional 2500 lbs. of fuel for the endeavor. As a result we were at min fuel for the first landing (not declared as we had been visual of the airport for 30+ mins) and near the same for the second landing (clear skies both events; 1st landing 8-10 nm behind interval and 2nd landing 17 nm behind interval!) This new policy needs to be communicated to crews and dispatchers to fuel plan accordingly!
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.