Pilots forced to make emergency landings because of fuel shortages

The incidents led to the aircraft being given landing priority by airports over other flights were often triggered by planes facing difficulties after having been diverted because of bad weather.

A number of airlines have been involved including Virgin Atlantic when two jumbo-jets sought priority landing at Stansted in January and last month Ryanair was forced to seek an emergency landing for three of its aircraft in Spain.

Although the total represents of fuel-related emergency landings is a reduction on 2008-10, when there were 41 such incidents, some pilots have warned the airlines are operating on very narrow margins as they seek to cut operating costs.

Legally pilots entering British airspace must not only carry enough fuel to complete their journey, but also a reserve which would allow them to reach an alternative airport with enough in hand to allow for 30 minutes circling before being permitted to land.

On top of that there must be a contingency reserve supply to cope with headwinds which can lead to more fuel being consumed.

Once they have less than 30 minutes flying time left, pilots have to seek an emergency landing.

There are two classifications of emergency landing. A “PAN” – standing for Procedure for Air Navigation Service – is a request for priority over other aircraft.

More serious is a Mayday, where fire and rescue will have to be put on alert.

In January two Virgin Atlantic flights, which had been diverted to Stansted because of bad weather, sought a PAN priority landing. According to CAA records this was because of a “fuel shortage”.

A Virgin spokesman said: Following standard procedures a PAN alert was issued to give priority landing. Our fuel management procedures are approved by the CAA and comply with all industry regulations.

“We plan our fuel loading on a number of factors, we carry more than regulatory minimums and load extra fuel for anticipated factors such as weather.”

On landing both aircraft, whose pilots had believed they were about to start using their reserve supplies, were found to have over the legal minimum fuel requirement in their tanks.

The Virgin planes were among 18 diverted to Stansted because of the weather, one other short haul operator also declared a Mayday because of a fuel shortage.

Ryanair, had to declare a fuel emergency in Spain last month, after three flights were left in a holding pattern for up to 70 minutes after being diverted from Madrid to Valencia during heavy storms.

One retired pilot told the Exaro website that he and his colleagues were under pressure from airlines because of the industry’s need to keep costs down.

"There is pressure on pilots by airlines to carry minimum fuel because it costs money to carry the extra weight, and that is quite significant over a year.

"The fuel burns of each aircraft are very carefully recorded over a very long time to get accuracy to enable the correct amounts of fuel to be loaded.

“There will always be the unexpected events, and that is why reserves are carried. The real poser is: what is a reasonable reserve?"

Much of the problem faced in Britain has been caused by shortage of runway space in south east England, according to David Reynolds, the head of safety at the British Airline Pilots Association.

“The way in which aircraft are being developed in becoming more fuel efficient, there is less need for fuel.

“However the problem comes when there are delays. The infrastructure in the South East is creaking and you can get cases where people want to know if you have the right amount of fuel to go anywhere.

"The very bad weather that we had in December caused pandemonium in the south-east of England. Aircraft were arriving and finding that they suddenly had nowhere to land because the airfield had closed or everybody else had gone there."

“That reflects the pressure commercial pilots are under. Flying with too much fuel is expensive because it of the additional weight,” said Rob Gifford, executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Committee for Transport Safety.

“But the law the law is tough enough and needs to be regularly monitored,” he added.