United SUFFERS MULTIPLE DIVERSIONS | Low Fuel Emergency!

[@VASAviation]

*Further audio from their diversion to Philadelphia and emergency declaration was trimmed to save time. The aircraft squawked 7700 and received priority into KPHL Airport. VASAviation considers more important to show the professional way these pilots worked on making such difficult decisions to divert to different airports but not being capable to land at any of them. Good job!* --Untrimmed video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJTEc6ZmedR5e6s -- Similar video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3rNaqB3l76MgKM

[@florianko91]

Thank you for the video. Could you please prolong introduction at the beginning of the video? It is impossible to read it so fast so I have to stop it all the time. I think many people who aren't native speakers would appreciate that.

[@75supercourse]

@@florianko91 I'm a native speaker and it's fast for me too. VAS has been asked for this before and indicated a preference to not do so. I appreciate the work he does and just pause it myself.

[@MrtinVarela]

At 1:04 mark, 1/18 appears to be in inches but I'm not 100% sure of the actual number format (is it 1/18th of an inch?). I'd like to help with spanish translation.

[@johnferguson7235]

A lot of mistakes and omissions in the subtitles. I was going to suggest some corrections but there are just too many errors.

[@Steve-ev6ow]

Martín Varela It should have read 1/8th of an inch instead of 1/18th. I very much appreciate the cc work by VAS, and it is impossible to translate 100% perfectly given the sheer number of videos produced. Great work VAS! 👍

[@erictyler4447]

I was on this flight. The crew handled the situation beautifully. We were originally in a hold waiting for BOS to finish snow removal. Then you see what happens next. The captain never mentioned Dulles to us in back. Only PVD and eventually PHL. He also never said “emergency”, but only that they were going to “expedite us into Philly”. I got the FlightRadar emergency alert about our flight as we were on descent into Philly! We assumed any of the NY airports (especially Newark being a United hub) would be an option. But weather was iffy and with the limited fuel situation, Philly was as close to a guaranteed weather wise in the region. Long time subscriber to VASAviation, great video as always!

[@VASAviation]

Glad you guys landed safely!

[@carbonhazard]

I bet that alert was a bit jarring

[@Meatwad650]

So when you land that far away from your destination what happens? (Never had it happen to me.)

[@bothieGMX]

@@Meatwad650 Either bus to original destination or hotel + later flight to original destination.

[@autumnbeds]

This has got to be the flight Louis CK was on. Great story. Glad everyone is safe.

[@incinc9068]

Good evening passengers and welcome to our mystery flight tonight! We expect to get you to an unplanned destination and some point before our fuel runs out. Please sit back and relax.

[@johnstreet797]

If any of you are praying people, this might be a good time to start.

[@Quasihamster]

Well that's one way to avoid slipping off the runway of course. Just don't land!

[@VASAviation]

Indeed.

[@martintheiss743]

@@VASAviation sounds scary. why don't land in providence?

[@HeidiKohne]

The winds were constantly changing because the storm cell was right over the airport. Pilots need the winds to be coming from the same direction during the entire descent, and it's ideal for them to be headwinds. Otherwise, the plane may come onto the ground way before, after, or totally sideways compared to the runway, possibly at the last second.

[@thomasdahl3083]

It's better to hold the airplane at the airport and wait for better weather conditions. It's safer and it consumes less fuel.

[@goingtoscotland]

@@thomasdahl3083 We have no picture of the forecasted weather. It does no good to enter a holding pattern at your destination if the weather isn't even forecasted you improve.

[@katego370]

I can just imagine... "Ladies and gentlemen, due to bad weather we'll be diverting to Providence." - a few moments later - "Ladies and gentlemen, now we will be diverting to Washington." - a few moments later - "Ladies and gentlemen, we will be diverting to Philladelphia. May I remind you that it is not April 1st. We actually WILL be diverting to Philladeplhia. Hopefully..."

[@buggyclown109]

That's why being pilot is a stressful and respected job. Some people underestimate pilots and they assert that airplanes are fully automatic but they disregard emergency situations as such in this incident. Sometimes, all the alternatives you planned become out of limit.

[@VASAviation]

May this video be to show how good ATCs and pilots are!

[@buggyclown109]

@@VASAviation Totally agree👍

[@damienmanu117]

I'm 21, I always will love aviation and my excellent airbus jetliners :), I know I want to be a airline pilot for sure, all the challenges for me is part of the fun, knowing when you get down safely, you have done yourself, everyone and aviation proud :), and as always, a full safe and straight forward flight is the best flight :), every flight that passes overhead I don't just simply look, i watch, analyze, feel and enjoy the flight even though I'm just walking around or just playing gta online on my ps4 flying my miljet bombardier crj200 :), my feeling if joy increases every time any of my own airbus jetliners fly overhead, knowing again in the summer holiday, my easyJet A320 awaits me as it's my turn to enjoy my flight :), I will be in the cockpit in control at some point, every flight I see and have powers me forward towards it :)

[@John_Be]

Yeesh what's a guy got to do to get down in bad weather! Great teamwork and communication by everyone!

[@drkatel]

Pilots & ATC sounded perfectly chill as if it was just another day at the office. Much respect!

[@jonesjones7057]

Man these guys did a great job. Having been in similar circumstances I can say it is definitely not easy to continually change destinations while watching the fuel burn away. Great job not pushing a bad approach. When fuel becomes a factor, that's not easy to do. Guys earned a year's pay there.

[@Xanthopteryx]

Nice done, and the pilots were very clear when speaking and did everything by the book.

[@ka3boool2010]

Agreed.

[@seanli7493]

This must've been so stressful for the pilots

[@reusin69]

*pilots

[@stevecummings2703]

Pilots...there’s never only one...

[@seanli7493]

Thanks for the corrections, it was a hastily made comment. corrected now

[@acolytetojippity]

way to go, philly! 4th choice, moving up in the world!

[@MoviefanSerbia]

Well that's a bad luck. Pilots did a great job!

[@EoRdE6]

I was in Boston for this storm, it was unique not for the amount of snow which was pretty average but how insanely cold it got after the snow (I'm talking below 0°F) causing all the snow to go rock solid on the ground, plus the crazy winds. I remember walking to work and seeing someone in front of me walk past the edge of a building and literally get blown over with a combination of the wind and the snow.

[@jaedenbranom9044]

I saw this is on Flightradar24 and was so confused at the diversions. I knew that there was a major Blizzard due to the storms that had just hit my state (California) and was surprised that they weren’t diverted to LGA or EWR due to some flights being let to leave. I knew something was wrong with it when it appeared Red on radar and the circling of two major airports

[@gavinjenkins899]

432! 432: Who me? No I'm talking to 432. You mean us we are 342. Oh right of course, thanks for reminding us 432

[@Focusonbehind]

Hahaha yes he kept saying 432 even after being corrected.

[@thaton3guy100]

And it appears that they changed controllers because of that right? Had him go on a break probably

[@N8RVD]

Surprised they didn't try for JFK or Newark.

[@icebreaker7079]

Maybe Dulles had the best met reports at the time.

[@mkkm945]

@@icebreaker7079 I live in NYC - we had some winds and rain but not that bad, so I am wondering the same. Maybe UA is allergic to JFK since they don't fly there haha. I'd have chosen Newark, but then I don't have full information.

[@nlSpiller]

Because having an emergency at Newark is not something you want to cause.

[@southjerseysound7340]

The whole region was a mess and with their fuel situation I doubt they wanted to get into the mix of delays there too. Dulles probably had the best options for the company to get the passengers to Boston later on too. When Nor-Easter rolls through here it can be brutal from Baltimore to Boston and beyond.

[@dpm-jt8rj]

@@southjerseysound7340 I immediately thought Stewart (SWF) but they were probably taking all the diverts from EWR/JFK/LGA/ISP. I wasn't there so who knows but I'm sure they were constantly talking back and forth with company operations.

[@feynthefallen]

Imagine booking a flight to Boston and ending up in Philadelphia, more than 250mi off target...

[@johnsiggs8699]

Imagine being the passengers expecting to land in Boston ends up in Philly yeesh. Good job by the pilots and ATC tho

[@sjimmie007]

I was thinking the same thing. They end up nearly as far from their destination as where they departed from.

[@parallelburrito]

I'm sure they understand given the weather.

[@jackieniels]

Better than dead..

[@NaomiCurtis]

I went from St Louis to Philly to San Fran. Bit of a way around in good weather

[@ExtremeSquared]

Usually looking up destination weather reports is part of flying.

[@annehyams7795]

Thank you for the interesting videos VASAviation. Thank you so much Annie

[@abaza738]

What does it mean when ATC says "FICON 3/3/3" or "FICON 5/5/5"?

[@abaza738]

@All_Roads That's awesome! I looked up what you sent me and found this FAA Document: www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Notice/N_JO_7930.107_Field_Condition_(FICON)_Reporting.pdf Thank you very much for your kind explanation!

[@Adam20231]

Thanks for the answers all. I had the same question.

[@switchzz]

@All_Roads The new system takes all braking conditions off of the liability of the airport operator and only lists the actual condition of the runways mostly omitting braking action. It is then the pilots choice to land if they approve of the listed runway conditions. This is mostly because braking action at smaller airports that do not have the sophisticated braking action reporting computers is completely perceptual. Only landing aircraft now give their last braking report.

[@VASAviation]

@All_Roads Thank you and everyone who makes this community great with your comments and explanations. Unfortunately I am unable to reply every single question but guys do awesome for me. I explained FICON a few videos ago but maybe should have explained it here as well. Thanks!

[@deeanna8448]

@All_Roads thank you for the explanation. I Iearned something new!

[@IceFilmsss]

Yesterday i recieved a notification from flight radar: a plane squaked 7700 , i saw this plane making circles around some airports, and i thought... will VAS make a video on it? He did.

[@VASAviation]

Trying not to disappoint.

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

I saw that too lol

[@Jayden-gp4lp]

Can you make one on the Melbourne airport fire alarm a week ago?

[@TexasTravels]

me too lmao

[@DanXDelion]

Same here too. Great job! Greetings from Germany

[@CrayCraigie]

This is sully level pilotage. Sometimes heroism is boring.

[@mikefuquay9903]

Rough day at work.

[@pziemann]

What is unclear to me is, they mentioned low fuel to Boston and then they wanted to divert to Dulles???

[@VASAviation]

They didn't report low fuel but running low on fuel which means reaching the minimum request amount to divert to your alternate - which we assume was Dulles.

[@pziemann]

Thanks for the reply - makes more sense now. @@VASAviation

[@harmgregory4560]

I WAS kind of disappointed that you cut off the video just when things were getting interesting. Good radio form by the pilots, MY voice would have been getting a bit higher, LoL.

[@VASAviation]

Things were not getting more interesting. Just an emergency declaration and vectors into Philly.

[@worldsedge4991]

Pilots did a phenomenal job.

[@sbdude82]

Why, if they had enough fuel to fly to Dulles (apparently), which is 360 nm from Boston, were they worried about fuel in Boston? Not to mention the fuel they had to use on climb out from Providence.

[@AguadillaCGN]

2:37 atc controller change because repeatedly wrong flight callsign?

[@arnoldsherrill6305]

Remember when NASA did The Grand Tour of the planets Welcome to The Grand Tour of the East Coast brought to you by United Airlines

[@pmvaldez1]

Landing at El Paso international must have been fun yesterday. We had a high wind advisory. Blowing dust, tumble weeds, etc.

[@gooner72]

ATC......... "United 342.....What's wrong with Boston?" That, in my opinion, is stupid question and I would've been furious if someone asked me that.

[@whatever8282828]

It seems really strange that they didn't land at Newark, which is a United fortress hub. Perhaps it had the same weather problems as Boston and Providence? Just dump all your passengers at a fortress hub of a foe?

[@pleappleappleap]

Or JFK or SWF.

[@pleappleappleap]

Or FOK or FTG, for that matter.

[@TheSonicsean]

Is the Providence controller working in a literal wind tunnel?

[@TheSwanlake2009]

Better safe than sorry. Dulles must of have the best conditions. U must be extra careful w/ 737s

[@millenniumbryan]

Why didn't they divert to one of the New York airports (LaGuardia, JFK or Newark)?

[@VASAviation]

Bad weather.

[@stephanieritter4771]

Another version of Destination... Love those movies

[@charlesrocks]

This is why I fly United.

[@johnstreet797]

Fly the friendly skies or the luftwaffe will get you

[@JustBov]

Being passed around like a hot potato.

[@martintheiss743]

actually the flight crew needs to feel their own plane out. if they are scared at something or yell at an ATC that they are concerned about landing/runway concerns, no one is better able to say that.

[@jetroar17]

@@martintheiss743 I think it was just a joke.......

[@CM_CM_]

Where does the pilot declare mayday like said on the thumbnail? I think I might have missed it

[@chunkychuck]

Why isn't this video listed on my subscriptions page? wtf, youtube.

[@VASAviation]

KZbin :(

[@brickteller5462]

I received the alert of this sqwuak from Flightradar24 just after watching the United that skid off the runway past video from VASAviation... I knew he would start doing the vid right away😏😏😏

[@VASAviation]

And you knew right :)

[@stephanieritter4771]

Dang wish it had been a murder mystery night of clue.... Wait !!!..... It was... without the murder ... It was the pilot...with a plane ....in the cabin

[@binkymagnus]

why did he ask for Dulles right away? JFK, Newark, Philly, and BWI were in between. Was it because IAD is a United hub?

[@VASAviation]

That might be a why but also bad weather was present in the NY area.

[@mikeL5183]

Albany is also just as close as those other airfields, and also is a United destination, but weather was an issue there as well. Had it not been for the weather in Albany, it probably would have been the 2nd alternate after Providence (if the storm was more coastal), it's only a 3 hour drive from Boston in ideal conditions.

[@vadimbanner2024]

I have a list of videos from you and it shows you released 4 videos in under a day! Great job

[@lipkinasl]

In between Providence and Washington or Philly, is New York. Why didn't they go there? Or was New York's weather bad as well?

[@peterwordsworth157]

Great video!

[@VASAviation]

Thank you, Peter!

[@robertoloja9629]

Why the spanish subtitles? Unnecessary clutter... US, english speaking country, english is the international aviation language... What's up?

[@VASAviation]

What

[@Jay-hr3rh]

I say their brownies had too much THC in them.

[@TheYoyozo]

I think the initial poor use of identifiers by Boston ATC demonstrates that one does not want to fly there during a Patriots playoff appearance.

[@Notimp0rtant523]

Where have I heard MANTA J121 BRIGS JIIMS3 before?

[@ronaldderooij1774]

Why try to fly to Boston in the first place. Don't they do meteo before departure anymore?

[@inshallamiami]

Does one of the United 342 pilots have a slight German Accent? Or have I been listening to too many Jürgen Klopp interviews?

[@briancooney9952]

i thought he sounded Irish

[@agntxx]

Controllers working for free. Kudos.

[@CJP-oz6hr]

This is what happens when you limit the fuel loaded to an aircraft to save money. Airlines should consider putting more fuel in the planes when whether conditions are less then favorable versus having to deal with a boondoggle as this.

[@missfraffy]

Fuel planning on bad weather nights is not as straightforward as pulling up to the pump and fillin’ er up.

[@CJP-oz6hr]

@@missfraffy …..I should hope not.

[@m4nu507]

Is the breaking action not reported in the METAR? Or maybe its included in the D-ATIS via ACARS?

[@VASAviation]

It's usually showed in NOTAM.

[@Sky10811]

Boston or NYC was closer... 🤷‍♀️ Why they went to Phil?..

[@briancooney9952]

hartford, albany, Poughkeepsie, 3 airports in NYC, westover, Barnes (KBAF - where they were flying towards initially) all could handle a 737. But i think it's more the case of diverting to an alternate that's completely outside of that weather system.

[@NorCalTRACON]

dat bos app tho lol is it 432 or 342

[@turbofanlover]

Good stuff.

[@VASAviation]

Thank you!

[@ShaneFleming]

Were any of the New York airports not an option, with them being closer than Philly?

[@VASAviation]

No, bad weather.

[@ShaneFleming]

@@VASAviation Thanks

[@jonmobrien]

Couldn't have happened to a more deserving airline

[@martintheiss743]

chicken to go to Providence.

[@joepatroni8777]

1:03 thats 1/8th inch snow, not 1/18 and 9:34 a BRIDGE too far, not a bit too far....Just sayin....

[@stevecummings2703]

The standard of RT on this video is appalling. Controllers getting callsigns wrong, random questions like “what’s wrong with Boston” being asked on frequency. Overall not exactly confidence building as regards aviation standards in the US.

[@a.t.678]

They hadn't been paid for a month, many of their coworkers were calling out sick or outright resigning, and the ATC who were still showing up for work were often working second jobs to try to avoid financial disaster. They were telling the media that the stress levels, the lack of sleep, and the absenteeism were all making the skies incredibly dangerous. I guess this video may be proof of that danger in action.

[@mediaaccount167]

Let's hope the country votes wiser in 2020 so the hard working ATC are not forced to work without pay as if they were a Trump contractor :)

[@javiercaselli]

I know it's always super busy over there, but given it was a fuel emergency, why Philly and not NYC?

[@erikhertzer8434]

Javier Caselli : easier to get into philly...lot less traffic

[@AmdiaR]

because Philly was secondary and not NYC

[@inshallamiami]

The cheesesteaks?

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

The weather at other airports pervaded all decision-making until the fuel pervaded the weather issues.

[@austinrebello]

Weather at philly > weather at NYC

[@TheProPilot]

I guess the weather in Islip and all of those Long island airports was no good as well? Why all the way to Philly? I'm so glad I was O-F-F for this one 😂

[@promizeband]

What date did this occur? Can you put the date in the video description? If I missed it I apologize. Great videos though. Love your channel. I live in this area so I’m curious what the date was. Thanks!

[@VASAviation]

Date is always in the begnning description. Though it's wrong - this was yesterday.

[@christinestill5002]

We can skip pitot tubes problems. Faulty readings, frozen?

[@KGR0]

Was the ATC change because it was the end of his shift or did he get in any trouble for the wrong callsign thing? :D

[@VASAviation]

Not any trouble I'd say. Either the end of his shift or the SUP found him too stressed and changed it for another guy that was fresh.

[@davidhearrell5598]

Sup told him to go home and get his shine box.

[@itsjohndell]

@@davidhearrell5598 You either get this or you don't....

[@martintheiss743]

why not ask BOS for their number?

[@CalciteSerendipity]

Pease NH, Portland ME and Bradley CT are all closer and would not be too busy.

[@VASAviation]

Not about how busy, it's about weather.

[@martintheiss743]

@@VASAviation nah does Providence have a good coffee shop?

[@markjudge7983]

ATC just love the sound of their voice

[@ronakjoshi5339]

Why didn't they divert to Newark(EWR) instead? It was closer and a United hub.

[@sejal70506]

Hey Vasa, what does it mean Breaking Action is not good

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

Might I add that in the two days prior to this event, in two separate incidents, jets skidded off their respective runways!

[@itsjohndell]

It means you could become a toboggan at the end of the runway.

[@Scunl]

There's an error in the substitle x) at 1:30 he said Left HDG 210 not speed

[@10renato20santana86]

Why not land in NY?

[@donaldtrunp574]

Renato Santana NY has no grooves in rwy

[@reapz3621]

Donald Trunp What does that have anything to do with not being able to land though? I mean LGA, EWR, and JFK were closer. Or because they’re so busy they couldn’t let another land? Sorry I’m bad with this stuff

[@captainrabbit1016]

@@reapz3621 if ny does indeed not have grooves (which I'm quite shocked by) then it would make landing conditions harder. The main issue is most of the runways are coated with snow or ice and the pilot wants to be able to land safely and without skidding off the runway. Therefore, the pilot may prefer to land on Philly's grooved runways rather than NY's flat ones.

[@marty2872]

It's weird. You folks are already on line digging in to see this stuff- just dig in a little more and extend the experience. Google it, it's all right there. skyvector.com/airport/JFK/John-F-Kennedy-International-Airport

[@alden5931]

The video ending when it did makes it seem a little like they landed at PNE, not PHL.

[@AlohaMilton]

Sheeesh, love planes but sometimes a train works better. Wanted to go to Boston but ended up in Philly, ouch!!! I bet they took a train back. DC to Boston on a train should have fairly high speed in sections, so hopefully they got to Boston the same day. (edit:not sure why I typed DC, brain fart was thinking of a time I rode from DC to Boston. Ment Philly).

[@martintheiss743]

you would love the plane crash at Tenerife North in 1977. brain fart.

[@DrunkHog]

Saw this one live last night, thanks to flightradr24. Was wondering wtf happened.

[@johnferguson7235]

The pilots decided to divert to Dulles BEFORE checking to see if they had enough fuel. That is a serious mistake that caused considerable confusion and a lot of additional work for ATC.

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

I’d like to believe it comes down to how weather conditions can change quickly and make winter travel a living nightmare, both in the air and on the ground.

[@cometogether420]

There are dozens of airplanes landing at those airports by that time, why are they soo afraid? Isn't it more dangerous then just landing like everybody else?

[@martintheiss743]

flight crew thought Providence had better coffee, no?

[@instawarlock1155]

the atc audio quality is awfull. too much background noise

[@thecw301]

342? 432? ATC a little confused...

[@alienhuman]

ATC was a 'little' busy...

[@willyt7241]

@@alienhuman yes they were busy, but scrambling call signs turns a busy session into a nightmare. Especially when Spirit432 checked on. That's probably where he got the number in his head. The busier you get the less you can afford to make call sign mistakes. The controller was probably due for a break.

[@elcastorgrande]

@@willyt7241 The first ATC was relieved. Bad enough to have bad weather, fuel emergencies, wind shear, and no paycheck.

[@margaretmathis4775]

Is this from January 2018 or 2019? Info says 2018.

[@VASAviation]

Oh, my apologies. This was yesterday - 2019.

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

VASAviation - • Don’t worry! We knew it was a misprint. I’ll write 2018 on everything until March😁

[@MasterCarguy44-pk2dq]

ATC controllers need lots more trsinibg and should NOT bexallowed to work in this field until age 27. Max 48.

[@alexilmain8146]

Poor fuel planning

[@ksbear2]

Spanish subtitles over English subtitles. Couldn't read the English. Dislike as a result.

[@thomasdahl3083]

Bad planning from the pilots and the company. They should have planned for an alternate that would have better weather conditions. They should also have held the airplane in Chicago until they were absolutely sure the weather would be good when reaching the coast. I, as a passenger, would have preferred waiting in Chicago airport instead of being tossed around between airports. To tell the truth, I would have canceled my trip and I would have traveled another day.

[@tundramanq]

LOL I have got to look at the post dates on these videos. I thought this had to do with the hurricane that hit Canada recently.

[@andresdotnet3287]

runway FICON 5/5/5? What does that mean? at min 3:56

[@VASAviation]

Runway in good condition.