the map of this Monday’s flight, over the city / web
With this week’s case, there are two episodes in a year with commercial airplanes causing shock in the City in maneuvers dedicated to burning fuel as a result of mechanical emergencies before landing in the metropolitan area.
On February 17, 2022, a commercial passenger flight that had departed from “Aeroparque Jorge Newbery” bound for Río Gallegos and had to return to the Buenos Aires airport “due to technical problems” previously flew over the City.
From Aerolíneas Argentinas it emerged then that the plane had a technical defect to be determined and was circling over La Plata “to spend the necessary fuel before landing again.” The same thing that happened on Monday with the plane of the same company that was going to Madrid.
That time, the trajectory of the vehicle, an Embraer model, was recorded on different web pages that monitor flights in real time. As described from different areas such as Los Hornos, La Loma, Tolosa and even from Plaza Malvinas, the aircraft had its landing gear low and had been rotating for more than an hour.
Yesterday, the city was still talking about the plane that flew over La Plata for several hours, early Monday morning. That, as happened last year, aroused doubts and concern about the deafening noise it generated every time it passed.
According to witnesses, there were some 30 times in which the Aerolíneas Argentinas aircraft came and went over the roofs of the City.
Flight ARG1132, which departed from Ezeiza and was destined for Madrid, suffered a malfunction, for which reason it had to return to the International Airport.
The FlightRadar24 site reported that it expected to arrive in Madrid at 3:00 p.m., but it reached the southern part of the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina and had to return to Buenos Aires, where it finally landed at 6:44 in the morning.
The passengers were transferred several hours later to another plane, with another crew, to make the planned trip.
Experts say that to land, the aircraft must “burn” or “throw fuel” since it cannot do so with a full tank due to its weight. And that’s what he did, flying in an “elliptical” shape.
As it is a long trip, the plane carries a large amount of fuel, but it becomes a nuisance when, shortly after leaving, it has to land due to an emergency.
They ensure that the aircraft must never exceed the maximum weight allowed for landing (other than takeoff). One of the options is to release weight in flight by getting rid of the fuel (Fuel Jettison). For that, it is necessary that there is no other plane nearby and no risk of damage on the ground. This time, that was not possible and it was decided to spend it in flight.
