Commercial flights are less “interesting” than private flights. My four seater plane in Arkansas ran out of fuel, both tanks, coming into Little Rock airport, requiring a glide into the runway. That can happen. Just another night, almost needing to land on an interstate highway in between headlights.
A total white-out in the Pennsylvania mountains, while following a river, was “also” interesting. We were below the top of the mountains enjoying the view — and then there was no view. Getting over the top of the mountains before we ran straight into one we couldn’t see was some heart-pounding fun.
I’m thinking commercial flights are probably the way to go most of the time? Or at least a slightly more experienced pilot on board.
Neither one of these two circumstances were the time I jumped out of a plane at 3000 feet. That was a different time. That one involved a cornfield landing and two shattered ankles. Not mine. Two different ankles.
Here are some longggg flights. And I thought Dubai to the US, 15 hours, was long!
Singapore Airlines’ Singapore to New York (JFK). 9,537 miles (approximately 15,348 kilometers). 18 hours and 50 minutes.
Singapore Airlines’ Singapore to Newark (EWR). 9,535 miles. 18 hours and 25 minutes.
Qatar Airways’ Doha (DOH) to Auckland (AKL). 9,032 miles. 18 hours.
Advanced aircraft like the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner are known for their fuel efficiency, although probably my plane in Arkansas was also considered fuel efficient. So maybe that’s not the only thing?
The Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore to New York uses an Airbus A350-900, which typically carries 238,540 pounds of fuel for the journey. During the flight, the aircraft consumes 214,950 pounds of fuel, leaving about 23,600 pounds of fuel remaining upon landing.
So, is that 10% additional fuel in the tank sufficient for the taxiing, any flight oddities or headwinds? Almost certainly, yes, unless there is a fuel leak, or something else that couldn’t have been predicted. “Fuel starvation“ is very close to 0% probability due to safeguards in place to compensate for abnormal circumstances. Out of a zillion flights, there are only a couple of known instances of very long flights, as described above, running out of fuel.
International guidelines mandate that commercial flights carry additional fuel beyond what is needed for the trip to ensure safety. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the required fuel for contingencies includes:
Taxi fuel: Fuel used for ground operations.
Trip fuel: Fuel necessary to reach the intended destination.
Contingency fuel: Typically 5% of the trip fuel or enough for 5 minutes of holding flight.
Destination alternate fuel: Fuel to reach an alternate airport if needed.
Final reserve fuel: Enough for 30 minutes of holding flight for jets.
Additional and discretionary fuel: As required by the pilot for unforeseen circumstances.
We must’ve skimmed that part of the required reading.
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Alvin Foo
World’s longest flights
