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|
Attributes | |
ACN | 1753346 |
Time | |
Date | 202007 |
Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
Place | |
Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
State Reference | US |
Environment | |
Flight Conditions | Marginal |
Light | Night |
Aircraft 1 | |
Make Model Name | B737-700 |
Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
Flight Plan | IFR |
Person 1 | |
Function | First Officer Pilot Flying |
Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine |
Events | |
Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue |
Narrative:
While on final approach the captain and I both observed a high cloud layer with a small area of thick virga underneath it develop directly over the field. Winds were reported gusty; and we were VMC with the runway and airport clearly in sight. A few miles from touchdown we received a warning of 'go around; windshear ahead.' at that point we executed the published missed approach. It was windy with turbulent air not exceeding moderate chop but we were still VMC with the field in sight. ATC reported they were observing gusty winds with no adverse weather warnings.we accepted close-in vectors for a second approach and stayed within about six miles of the airport. We accepted a visual approach on the base turn and joined a five-mile final. On the second approach our radar picked up a small; about two-mile wide light green return over the approach end of the runway. Then ATC reported a microburst alert with a 40 knot wind change. We immediately performed a second go-around and took a south turn away from this small band of quickly developed weather. At that point our attention quickly turned to fuel. We were forecast to land originally with only 6.5 in gas; and due to a good weather forecast we had no alternate and little extra fuel. The captain reached out to dispatch via the ops frequency while I continued to fly the aircraft and looked up alternate options. We first looked at ZZZ1; which after brief calculations proved too far and had us landing with emergency fuel. I then suggested ZZZ2 as I knew it was close and had operated there at a prior airline. We checked the weather at ZZZ2; which was only around 50 miles away and it was VMC with light winds. However; we were shocked to find that ZZZ2 was not in our FMC database nor was it in our jepps plates. We began working with ATC to get information about ZZZ2 and we informed dispatch to get us performance data for the airport. At that point the small band of weather was observed to have moved off the field to the south. We queried with ATC; who informed us the winds died down a bit and the microburst and windshear warnings were no longer observed. After getting the weather; runway length and localizer frequency for ZZZ2; we determined that would be the safest course of action if a diversion was required. We calculated the burn and determined we had the fuel to do one more approach attempt in ZZZ since the weather improved and then divert to ZZZ2 and land with 4.0 on the gas. We landed in ZZZ without further incident with 5.0 on the fuel. We should have more alternate airport options in our jepps and FMC. In this case; we didn't have information on the nearest commercially served airport to our destination. I am surprised we don't have the plates for ZZZ2 and that it is not in our FMC database. It also makes me wonder how many close suitable airports to destinations we serve also aren't included. In an unlikely event such as unforecast weather; airport closure; runway closure; etc. The more diversion fields we have information for that are close to the destination the better. It would help immensely if we had approved alternate airports that were the nearest suitable airports to the markets we serve; especially when the nearest airport is a commercial one. This would allow us to better prepare; gather information; save time; get the performance; and set up for an approach. It would be safer. Also; it would be nice if [we] had a list of diversion options along with the distance from the destination airport. This would help in situations like this when fuel is low and quick decisions need to be made.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: B737 First Officer reported two missed approaches with lack of information about nearest possible alternate.
Narrative: While on final approach the Captain and I both observed a high cloud layer with a small area of thick Virga underneath it develop directly over the field. Winds were reported gusty; and we were VMC with the runway and airport clearly in sight. A few miles from touchdown we received a warning of 'Go around; windshear ahead.' At that point we executed the published missed approach. It was windy with turbulent air not exceeding moderate chop but we were still VMC with the field in sight. ATC reported they were observing gusty winds with no adverse weather warnings.We accepted close-in vectors for a second approach and stayed within about six miles of the airport. We accepted a Visual Approach on the base turn and joined a five-mile final. On the second approach our radar picked up a small; about two-mile wide light green return over the approach end of the runway. Then ATC reported a Microburst alert with a 40 knot wind change. We immediately performed a second go-around and took a south turn away from this small band of quickly developed weather. At that point our attention quickly turned to fuel. We were forecast to land originally with only 6.5 in gas; and due to a good weather forecast we had no alternate and little extra fuel. The Captain reached out to Dispatch via the Ops frequency while I continued to fly the aircraft and looked up alternate options. We first looked at ZZZ1; which after brief calculations proved too far and had us landing with emergency fuel. I then suggested ZZZ2 as I knew it was close and had operated there at a prior airline. We checked the weather at ZZZ2; which was only around 50 miles away and it was VMC with light winds. However; we were shocked to find that ZZZ2 was not in our FMC database nor was it in our Jepps Plates. We began working with ATC to get information about ZZZ2 and we informed Dispatch to get us performance data for the airport. At that point the small band of weather was observed to have moved off the field to the south. We queried with ATC; who informed us the winds died down a bit and the microburst and windshear warnings were no longer observed. After getting the weather; runway length and localizer frequency for ZZZ2; we determined that would be the safest course of action if a diversion was required. We calculated the burn and determined we had the fuel to do one more approach attempt in ZZZ since the weather improved and then divert to ZZZ2 and land with 4.0 on the gas. We landed in ZZZ without further incident with 5.0 on the fuel. We should have more alternate airport options in our Jepps and FMC. In this case; we didn't have information on the nearest commercially served airport to our destination. I am surprised we don't have the plates for ZZZ2 and that it is not in our FMC database. It also makes me wonder how many close suitable airports to destinations we serve also aren't included. In an unlikely event such as unforecast weather; airport closure; runway closure; etc. the more diversion fields we have information for that are close to the destination the better. It would help immensely if we had approved alternate airports that were the nearest suitable airports to the markets we serve; especially when the nearest airport is a commercial one. This would allow us to better prepare; gather information; save time; get the performance; and set up for an approach. It would be safer. Also; it would be nice if [we] had a list of diversion options along with the distance from the destination airport. This would help in situations like this when fuel is low and quick decisions need to be made.
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.