I think that NOTAM is from 3 days before.

 

Well, I guess maybe it was published on the 20th based on the NOTAM number, but it lists the closing date & time as "1507231700-1507242200" which is for July 23 and 24. The incident was on July 23rd. ???

 

I think this is the one you're looking for. No mention of exemptions for Air Carrier Ops.

 

The article says they held for 18 minutes while trying to get the station to call someone to get authorization to land. And then eventually had to declare an emergency and landed with 42 minutes of fuel.

So they had enough gas to divert, just like the plane ahead of them, but hung around and eventually had to declare an emergency due to low fuel if they had to divert.

You can't hold and force an emergency when you have options earlier in the event.

BTW, who investigated this? The safety office? Of the flight department? Any problems with that process?

 

Actually that's the TFR for Fargo, not the NOTAM. (notice that it says "Temporary Flight Restriction in the first line, TFR). The TFR just deals with the airspace above and around the airport, but not the airport itself. The TFR did close the airspace to all aircraft and required permission from ATC to enter. The NOTAM allowed for scheduled carriers to enter the airspace but they should contact ATC before entering.

The NOTAM deals with the actual airport and its operations. It is the NOTAM that mentioned the exception allowing scheduled carrier flights to land in Fargo during the time it was closed. Presumably this would be done by contacting ATC upon arrival and they would make a runway available shortly. It appears from reading the Fargo NOTAM that the closing of Fargo during the rehearsal on July 23rd was not a hard closure, it was open to regularly scheduled carriers, just closed to private and corporate (business) aircraft. It would have been better if both the TFR and the NOTAM were more clear about this and they should have cross-referenced each other so someone reading one would know to read the other notice.

"A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is a type of Notices to Airmen (NOTAM). A TFR defines an area restricted to air travel due to a hazardous condition, a special event, or a general warning for the entire FAA airspace."

 

Found it, here's the NOTAM (FAR 07/020) that covered the Fargo airport on July 23 and 24. In plain talk it says "NOTAM: FAR 07/020 Aerodrome AIRPORT Closed Except SCHEDULED AIR CARRIERS Daily NOON-5:00pm LOCAL TIME JULY 23, 24 2015."

FAR 07_020 NOTAM z3.JPG

 

The plot thickens. The FO is a sharp guy, I thought there might be more to this.

 

This does nothing to alleviate what is clearly ****-poor judgement by the flight crew. Arguing with ATC, and loitering while trying to coordinate with company to try and get in (regardless of whether they should have been permitted to or not), while having no extra fuel to do so, instead of heading the 70 miles away and landing with a safe amount of gas, is inexcusable.

 

The inconsistency of the NOTAM vs TFR make it tough for us to do our jobs. Does dispatch even provide a copy of TFRs? I'm guessing not because the tower controller passed the number listed in the TFR. If the crew had the TFR and realized they were going to be flying through closed airspace due to the delay they could have called much sooner. They may get a slight pass due to this, but......

First, I dealt with this type of planning and dispatch in the AF. When the AF decided to jump on board with fuel planning just like this diverts just became a cost of doing business. We fought and argued that just 1 divert eliminates all the savings of not carrying extra fuel. How would any non management crew have handled this? When the company is planning fuel like this, albeit legal, they leave the crews little options when situations arise causing diverts. Again, just a cost of doing business.

Second, with this amount of negative press it's easy to see what would happen if this was any line crew. Looking at the story about the Capt that was fired based on supposed negative press you know these guys would have been thrown to the FAA and fired. That is the style of leadership I am leaving behind in the AF and pains me to see it happening on the outside. We are all going to screw up at one point or another, it just depends how you own it and how your leadership handles it. Something's are clear cut but most situations are not black and white and we make the best decisions with the given information at the time. Sometimes those turn out to be not the best decisions but as long as no metal was bent and no one hurt, take it as a lesson learned and move on. But seeing leadership crucify 1 and then give a pass to others based on their best judgment for a unique situation is disturbing.

 

Yea it may be open to scheduled carriers but it doesn't mean they may not ask you to hold or something. Even the tower told them they can bring them in in about 20 minutes without an emergency.