Short Final

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • An encounter between two aircraft over the North Pacific led to one pilot questioning another's reported fuel quantity.
  • The perceived low fuel amount was due to the reporting aircraft (an A340) using metric kilograms for fuel.
  • Once the metric unit was clarified, the questioning pilot understood the actual fuel level, resolving the confusion.
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Over the North Pacific in the middle of the night, we were catching up to a slower aircraft below us as we were coming up to a position-report waypoint. We listened out on the HF, and it was a MAC flight. He was obviously listening out as we gave our position report, and, shortly after, he came up on the air-to-air frequency.

He asked:
“Hey, what kind of an aircraft do you have with such a small amount of fuel?”

We replied:
“It’s an A340 metric airplane, and the fuel is in kilograms.”

He said:
“Oh. Now that makes sense.”


David Lamb
via e-mail

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