A Lufthansa lengthy haul flight needed to divert to Angola as a consequence of engine points, although Lufthansa’s restoration efforts right here go away a bit to be desired…
Lufthansa A350 suffers engine points, diverts to Luanda
This incident entails the Saturday, December 3, 2022, Lufthansa flight from Cape City (CPT) to Munich (MUC), LH575. The flight was operated by a roughly 5 yr outdated Airbus A350-900 with the license plate D-AIXE. The aircraft had 13 crew members and 286 passengers.
Based on The Aviation Herald, the Airbus A350 was cruising at 38,000 ft about 10 miles from Luanda, Angola, when the crew encountered points with the left hand engine. The crew began to descend, finally leveling off at 20,000 ft.
The aircraft entered a holding sample to burn off gasoline, and the choice was made to divert to Luanda (LAD). The plane landed there on runway 23 roughly one hour after the onset of hassle. In whole, the aircraft spent over 4 hours within the air.
Technical employees are being flown in to look at the aircraft, because it’s believed that the engine might have to get replaced. Suffice it to say that the aircraft hasn’t departed Angola but.
Lufthansa strands passengers in Luanda
Diversions occur on a regular basis, so right here’s the a part of the story that leaves me scratching my head. Ordinarily in case you have 300 individuals stranded at an airport, an airline will make an effort to ship a substitute aircraft, to select up stranded passengers. However that’s not what occurred right here.
Fairly right here’s what allegedly occurred, in accordance with NTV:
- Passengers have been solely allowed to depart the aircraft after hours of ready
- Since passengers didn’t have entry paperwork for Angola, the Angolan army confiscated all passengers’ passports
- Lufthansa organized motels for passengers, however didn’t present any details about how they’d proceed their journey
- Passengers later obtained new tickets from Lufthansa with new flights; Lufthansa wasn’t sending a rescue aircraft, however relatively rebooked passengers on different flights
- Most of the flight’s passengers have been rebooked on flights that aren’t even quickly; for instance, a household with three kids was given December 12 as the subsequent attainable return journey — ah, sure, get pleasure from your complimentary 9 day trip in Angola!
For what it’s price, Lufthansa does function frequently scheduled flights on to Luanda — the airline flies there 3x weekly out of Frankfurt utilizing an Airbus A330.
What an underwhelming restoration on Lufthansa’s half. It’s one factor if a flight in New York is canceled, the place you’ve gotten limitless Lufthansa Group airways and three way partnership companions working flights, and you’ll simply rebook everybody inside a day.
However to have a flight divert to Angola (which I think about many vacationers could be uneasy about to start with), after which principally inform passengers “hey, we’ll get you out of right here in 9 days,” is sort of ridiculous.
Distinction this to how a transatlantic United flight not too long ago diverted to the Canadian Arctic, and the airline had a substitute plane within the air inside hours.
Backside line
A Lufthansa Airbus A350 diverted to Luanda, Angola, as a consequence of some engine points. Whereas that occurs on occasion, what’s shocking is how the airline dealt with issues from there. Passengers had their passports confiscated, have been despatched to motels, and have been finally despatched new tickets, a few of which might have them staying in Angola for over per week.
What do you make of this Lufthansa diversion?
(Tip of the hat to Klaus)
