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| Date: | Tuesday 23 September 1997 |
| Time: | 07:00 |
| Type: |  McDonnell Douglas MD-11 |
| Owner/operator: | Delta Air Lines |
| Registration: | N805DE |
| MSN: | 48476/510 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1992 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 242 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Location: | Manchester International Airport (MAN/EGCC) -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, GA (ATL/KATL) |
| London-Gatwick Airport (LGW/EGKK) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Flight DAL 12, was a schedule from Atlanta Airport, USA to London Gatwick Airport; at 0559 hrs the aircraft entered the hold at WILLO at FL110. When asked, the commander informed ATC that he would be able to remain in the hold for 30 minutes. The RVR at Gatwick was less than 200 meters and the crew required 300 meters before they could make an approach. At 0631 hrs, ATC informed DAL 12 that the RVR was still 200 meters and asked if it was the intention to divert. The commander replied that he would like "VECTOR TO MANCHESTER". The aircraft was given a radar heading of 280° followed about 2 minutes later by clearance to climb to FL120. At 0638 hrs, DAL12 requested a higher altitude as soon as possible and was cleared to FL130 then FL140. At 0645 hrs, as the aircraft was approaching FL140 ATC asked what level the commander would like and was told FL250. This level was not available and clearance was given to climb to FL190 which the controller said was probably going to be the highest available; this was acknowledged as "ONE NINE ZERO'S FINE".
At 0647 hrs, the aircraft was at FL190, on a radar heading of 030° and expecting a routing to TRENT and DAYNE for Runway 06 at Manchester. At 0649 hrs, DAL 12 told ATC that "WE NEED TO PROCEED DIRECTLY TO MANCHESTER - WE'RE GETTING TIGHT ON FUEL". The aircraft was routed direct to TRENT at 0650 hrs and, at 0654 hrs the commander asked if they could land straight in on Runway 24; the controller relayed the request by telephone to Manchester Control Centre.
At 0655 hrs, DAL 12 called Manchester Area Control and was asked "DO YOU WISH TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY" to which the reply was "NOT AT THIS TIME". The aircraft was then cleared to continue for Runway 06 at Manchester. At 0658 hrs, with 65 track miles to run, the aircraft was cleared to descend to FL110. Further descent clearances were given and, following clearance to FL70 at 0706 hrs, the aircraft was transferred to Manchester Director who told DAL 12 that "YOU'RE NUMBER FIVE IN TRAFFIC ABOUT TWENTY EIGHT FROM TOUCHDOWN". DAL 12 replied "WE'RE FUEL SHORTAGE WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY WE CAN'T ACCEPT NUMBER FIVE OR SIX". The controller responded by turning the aircraft onto a heading of 330° which shortened the distance to touchdown to 18 track miles; to facilitate this one aircraft was given a delaying orbit and another was asked to keep its speed up on the ILS.
At 0708 hrs DAL 12 was cleared to 3,500 feet and turned onto a heading of 040° to intercept the localizer at about 17 nm from touchdown. The controller told the aircraft that Liverpool Airport was nearer at this point but DAL 12 replied that they were "NOT THAT DESPERATE". The Airport was brought to Full Emergency status and DAL 12 landed safely at 0716 hrs.
Analysis of the Manchester Airport runway movements associated with the incident indicated that, had DAL 12 taken its turn in the sequence of landing aircraft, it would have landed at 0721hrs at the earliest and 0727 hrs at the latest.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422f9f3e5274a131400073d/dft_avsafety_pdf_501030.pdf
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/7570317 (Photo)
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 23-Mar-2025 07:40 | Justanormalperson | Added |
| 23-Mar-2025 07:41 | ASN | Updated [Narrative, Accident report, ] |
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