Air Lingus Attempts and Attempts and Attempts to Land in Barcelona Before Running Out of Fuel

Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Jens Breuer

What: Aer Lingus Airbus A320-200 en route from Cork to Barcelona
Where: Barcelona
When: Mar 14th 2012
Who: 56 passengers, 6 crew
Why: Pilots on approach to Barcelona aborted their approach at 10,000 feet due to the poor visibility. Barcelona ATC refused the pilots requests for a Category III landing forcing pilots on a holding pattern for thirty minutes, then on flight on a wild goose chase looking for somewhere else to land, until the pilots eventually were about to run out of fuel.

After pilots declared an emergency, Barcelona ATC cleared the landing. Spanish authorities are investigating.

(The wild goose chase? First the denial and holding pattern, then off to Valencia, but before arriving, Barcelona said visibility had cleared, so back to Barcelona, but no, visibility hadn’t cleared. Pilots diverted to Girona, but Girona was congested, so back to Barcelona, which was finally cleared to land on declaring emergency.)

LEBL 142030Z 00000KT 0200 R25R/0300N R25L/0300V0550D FG BKN005 12/12 Q1027 NOSIG
LEBL 141930Z 00000KT 0200 R25R/0325N FG BKN005 12/12 Q1027 NOSIG