Professional Pilot, March 2018

runways or particularly difficult terrain such as FNC Madeira Portugal As the unbroken oceanic wind hits the islands and their mountains strong turbulences and windshear may occur at island airports Further south along our route SID Cape Verde DKR Dakar Senegal Barbados in the Caribbean and Fortaleza and Natal in Brazil came into play As you can see the equatorial and southern Atlantic is a vast body of water with almost no islands or runways Bermuda and the British territory of Asunción and St Helena are of interest on the route from North America to southern Africa The Gulf of Guinea which stretches on the west coast of Africa from Ivory Coast and Ghana to Nigeria Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea offers a number of airports such as Lagos Port Harcourt Douala and Malabo These may not be your 1st choice diversion airports or pitstops however due to the lack of technical support slow bureaucracy and high levels of crime even on airports Luanda in Angola is a destination for corporate aircraft as the oil industry here is booming Intertropical Convergence Zone A big factor in routing your equatorial Atlantic flight is the location and intensity of the ITCZ an area of intense thunderstorm activity created by the conversion of the tradewinds from north and south of the equator As the air rises to the upper atmosphere severe CBs may line up for hundreds of miles requiring extensive reroutings to avoid violent weather and strong turbulence Tops may reach 60000 ft so do not even think about flying over them Keep this in mind when ordering fuel for the trip 60 PROFESSIONAL PILOT March 2018 because an extra 15 or 20 minutes of flight time may easily be necessary One reason among others that Air Frances flight 447 fell out of the sky close to the equator was the crews attempt to remain on their planned airway at a higher flight level right through significant convective activity They didnt carry enough fuel for a wide enough diversion As our flight was nonstop each pilot got a few hours of rest in the bunk My instructions to the Senior FO before he took the left seat was to stay well clear of all CBs an instruction he probably didnt need as he was a very experienced B747 pilot When I came back to the flightdeck after my rest as we were entering Atlantico OCC Recife I noted that our aircraft was almost 80 nm off track I was happy because it was the right thing to do in a night when lines of CBs seemed to be everywhere It is of course very important to keep ATC and traffic in your area informed about your intentions Its also wise to plot other aircraft on a similar or opposing route as well as aircraft that may cross your path Vertical separation is 1000 ft in the south Atlantic just as it is in the north Be sure to read up on contingency procedures for engine failures and weather diversions applicable to the area you fly through as these may involve a change in altitude by 300 ft if you are too far off track Under Brazilian radar control As we crossed the coast of Brazil and entered domestic airspace we once again were under radar control Brazilian ATC has improved somewhat since the deadly collision in cruise flight between an Embraer Legacy and GOL Airways flight GOL 1907 a B737 over the Amazon jungle which was largely attributed to poor ATC coordination Still its advisable to stay 1 nm right of track and monitor the secondary VHF frequency that is provided as a backup with each frequency change Reception is often poor as transmitters are located far apart with unreliable power supplies A lot of communication with local aircraft happens in Portuguese making it very difficult for English speakers to develop a good picture of the traffic situation In the East the early morning light was beginning The new day started very slowly as the Southern Cross constellation our companion during the night slowly faded out in the brightening sky As the sun rose over the Rio de la Plata and after a good breakfast and some coffee we started our descent and landing preparations The sprawling modern city of Buenos Aires was spread out on the southern shores of the muddy wide river with the endless Argentinian Pampa as a backdrop After this long flight from 50N to 40S crossing the equator and many different climate zones over 13 hours of flight time it is a very pleasant reward having a visual approach to EZE over large haciendas with grazing polo horses and herds of cattle Check weather and runway conditions at your destination Be aware that even after such a long flight the weather at your destination or other factors such as a sudden runway closure may force a diversion Buenos Aires for example may get very strong winds from the pampa or severe lines of thunderstorms or fog Montevideo in Uruguay is just a good 100 nm away across the Rio de la Plata but usually a great alternative Also proper fatigue management should not be overlooked It takes good sleep in a quiet hotel room to recover from a long nonstop flight And in case you had to divert you may have to rest at the alternate airport 1st before continuing to your destination However the food and wines of South America are worth the long travel in any case Buenos Aires is well worth the effort of the long flight After a good rest it is time for a bife de lomo a punto of course and a good Malbec Reserva The flight back the next day will be just as demanding Peter Berendsen flies a Boeing 747 as a captain for Lufthansa Airlines He writes regularly for Pro Pilot on aviation related subjects