A Corsair A330-900 crew prepares for an 11-hour night flight from Paris to Reunion Island. The presenter narrates the departure, weather and arrival.
What the video covers
Written in our own words. It only describes what the video shows and says.Departure from Paris
The video opens with a Corsair 910 briefing for a flight to Reunion Island. The crew discuss take-off performance, landing weight and the planned runway. The presenter then describes sitting in an Airbus A330-900 while the preliminary cockpit preparation checklist is started. Christelle is pilot flying and the presenter is pilot monitoring, and because the flight is long there are three pilots in the cockpit. The flight is described as an 11-hour night flight, with arrival around 10.30 local time the next morning. The presenter says departure will use runway 06 rather than the usual runway 07 because the aircraft is too heavy, and gives a take-off weight of about 245 tons against a maximum of 251 tons. The aircraft is pushed back facing west, engine 1 is started first, and the crew taxi to holding point Whiskey 47. The take-off briefing includes actions for failures before and after V1, a climb to 3000 feet after a possible engine failure, and a return for an ILS 06 approach.
Weather and routing
After take-off, the crew accelerate through speeds, retract flaps and climb to flight levels. The presenter shows the navigation display and explains that thunderstorms are visible around the aircraft. He says the red areas must never be entered, yellow areas should be avoided, and green areas relate to humidity. He adjusts the weather radar tilt to estimate cloud tops, saying one degree low corresponds to clouds at least 5000 feet below at about 50 miles. He also mentions the multi-scan radar and says the crew mostly stay in automatic. The route is shown from Paris over Switzerland, the Alps, eastern Italy, Greece, the border with Egypt, Luxor, Cairo, Jeddah, Asmara, Ethiopia, Somalia, the Indian Ocean and Madagascar. The presenter says the crew request 20 miles right of track to avoid bad weather, choosing the right side of the thunderstorm because they get out quicker and the wind comes from the west. The alternate airport is Mauritius.
Arrival at Reunion
Steve, described as the second first officer, says Captain Tim has gone for rest and Steve is the relief pilot. He notes the aircraft has left the Somalian shores near Mogadishu and is heading towards Seychelles airspace, with about three hours to go. The arrival briefing covers the planned arrival, ILS approach, minimum safe altitudes, final course 136, approach configuration, go-around to 3000 feet, extra fuel of 23 minutes and 2.1 tons, autobrake low and full reverse. The threats include terrain, with the minimum safe altitude and terrain shown on the navigation display, and the shorter runway length, with Alpha exit or an end U-turn mentioned. During descent, Corsair 910 heavy receives traffic information, including crossing another aircraft and an A400 1000 feet below. The crew configure for landing, receive a headwind of 22 knots, and land on runway 14. After landing, they are given stand number 4. The crew state the scheduled and actual times, and the next flight to Mayotte is mentioned.
