British investigators know they were denied the opportunity to detour to the East Midlands before declaring a low-fuel emergency during the go-around in Birmingham.
The investigation also determined that the aircraft had to fly an expansion truck before a second approach to Birmingham, as the opportunity to prioritize a landing flight was overlooked.
Originally inbound from Cancun to Manchester on December 21, 2023, the flight faced chaos from strong winds in the northern UK.
The crew had anticipated strong winds, but expected to be accidentally dissipated, and another 984kg of fuel was raised, which was equivalent to a 15-minute flight.
Strong crosswinds in Manchester led several aircraft to queue to land on Runway 23R. The 787, loaded with 5.5T of fuel, was placed in a retention pattern on the MIRSI waypoint without estimating the expected delay.
About ten minutes after the hold, the crew called the East Midlands to advise them of planned reapplications. Runway 27 in the East Midlands has blown more approaches into the wind.
The repurposement request was denied as the airport operation in the East Midlands told Air Traffic Control that the airport only accepted Boeing 737-800 at the time.
However, the Aviation Accident Investigation Department has found that a request should be made in the airport's centre control room, which is responsible for the approval decision, and that it has approved the diversion of the 787.
This led the crew to detour to Runway 33 in Birmingham instead.
“The result of the East Midlands' refusal to accept the requested diversion was that (787) had an approach to the airport with significant crosswinds and the potential for Windshire in the final approach. It meant,” the survey said.
When the detour to Birmingham began, the 787 had held for 20 minutes, leaving 4.1T of fuel remaining.
The minimum fuel required for the detour was less than 3.4T. The 787 intercepted the runway 33 glide slope, but received Windshire warning at 240 feet and performed a fueled go-around at 2.7T.
As the jet climbed, the crew declared “Mayday” and reported a fuel emergency. The aircraft was vectorized for another ILS approach at a track distance of 25nm and transferred to another controller.
The crew did not declare “Mayday” to this controller. This controller landed another aircraft (Wizz Airbus A321neo) ahead of the 787. fuel.
After that, there was 1.25T of fuel remaining, below the final reserve level of about 1.9T. None of the 301 residents were injured.
An internal investigation into the incident was conducted in both the East Midlands and Birmingham Airport.
The East Midlands have revealed the role of the centre control room and its responsibility for decision-making and communication of the types and numbers of aircraft that airports can accept. Birmingham Air Traffic Control highlighted priority procedures for aircraft declaring emergency situations, including providing an uninterrupted approach.
