Emergency descent procedure in North Atlantic

[rondon9898 84]

Hi folks,

I am wondering if anyone could shed some light on what the exact procedure is for descending out of and leaving the north atlantic tracks if you have a fault or emergency, or even a depressurisation, mid-atlantic? I'm just flying across the Atlantic and obviously it's a lot quieter on VATSIM than real life, but if I were to suffer a malfunction that would require me to descend and leave the tracks for diversion purposes (e.g. turn back to CYYT), what exactly am I to do without colliding into other traffic below or in the tracks alongside me? What is the real life procedure? Also, for the 747, are there any specific settings to make in the FMS?

Cheers all

[Olympic260 415]

36 minutes ago, rondon9898 said:

Hi folks,

I am wondering if anyone could shed some light on what the exact procedure is for descending out of and leaving the north atlantic tracks if you have a fault or emergency, or even a depressurisation, mid-atlantic? I'm just flying across the Atlantic and obviously it's a lot quieter on VATSIM than real life, but if I were to suffer a malfunction that would require me to descend and leave the tracks for diversion purposes (e.g. turn back to CYYT), what exactly am I to do without colliding into other traffic below or in the tracks alongside me? What is the real life procedure? Also, for the 747, are there any specific settings to make in the FMS?

Cheers all

 

Take a look in the below link. There is reference on some official documentation as well

https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/North_Atlantic_Operations_-_Contingency

[dal330200 216]

Wow interesting.  I wonder if anyone has flight tracking history of a diverted A/C to see how real-world actions match the guidelines.

Edited July 8, 2018 by dal330200

[downscc 1,327]

52 minutes ago, dal330200 said:

Wow interesting.  I wonder if anyone has flight tracking history of a diverted A/C to see how real-world actions match the guidelines.

I saw an early power point briefing by Boeing on line on ETOPs that included a study of actual diverts.  Interesting note is that mechanical failure is very rare, most all diverts are due to medical emergencies.

[scandinavian13 5,192]

On 7/8/2018 at 12:55 PM, dal330200 said:

Wow interesting.  I wonder if anyone has flight tracking history of a diverted A/C to see how real-world actions match the guidelines.

Anecdotally, it seems as if most crews applied the procedures properly. There were a few outliers, but they were rare. I had to verify all of it manually by looking at the route and plotting it all out against the narrative, so I remember them all pretty well. Even though I moved off of that contract (onto one that is completely out of aviation), I still have my old NAR planning chart on my cube wall.

Source: I managed the FAA database for the OERC (Oceanic Event/Error Review Committee), and had to process all of the data we got from the various entities (FAA ARTCCs - ZNY and ZOA) to come to an idea of what happened, and how it was resolved.

EDIT: Forgot the international entities, too: NavCan, Iceland, NATS UK, and occasionally Santa Maria, and a few of the others.

Edited July 10, 2018 by scandinavian13

[dal330200 216]

Thanks for the info Kyle, as Spock used to say, "fascinating.". I think the NAT system is a marvel to behold, but I've always wondered what happens when things go haywire up there. 

John

[rondon9898 84]

That is interestnig so, just to be clear, if we have to descend: offset from the track by 15 miles either way, minimise rate of descent and then descend below FL280. Is that about right?

[scandinavian13 5,192]

15 hours ago, rondon9898 said:

That is interestnig so, just to be clear, if we have to descend: offset from the track by 15 miles either way, minimise rate of descent and then descend below FL280. Is that about right?

Kind of...a little more reading is required, as it's not something you can dilute that much:

https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/North_Atlantic_Operations_-_Contingency#Procedures

[phil747fan 14]

i had to deal with a few emergency diversions in the office while for 747 and 744.

 

most of the times as others mentionned it was for medevac therefore the closest airport will be chosen that can handle the emergency and even that emergency can be handle over satphone satcom if anybody on board can help ... so you continue your flight and divert off track only close to the airport ...

 

i ve seen airports used like bagotville, iqualit to list a few ... remember weather is another reason where you can not reach an airport ...