Quite often airplanes flying over the Atlantic have to make unscheduled stops in the Azores, usually at Santa Maria (LPAZ/SMA) or Lajes (LPLA/TER). The reason is always pretty much the same: medical emergency.
Both Santa Maria and Lajes have runways more then 3000 meters long, are ILS equipped and have the required material and fire response category to deal with these unexpected visitors. If the reason was any other then medical I would most definitely fly into any one of these airfields – primarily to Lajes – assured that I wouldn’t be left down by the airport capacity itself. But when it comes to passengers/crew members in distress in mid flight, it’s my honest belief that Lajes, and especially Santa Maria, should only be an option if the aircraft couldn’t comfortably land at Ponta Delgada (LPPD/PDL). Ponta Delgada has a 2500 meters runway and is located just 2 km from the best equipped hospital in all 9 islands. While Terceira island, where Lajes is located, has a hospital some 15 km away from the airport, the resources to deal with most problems that may struck people in-flight, and also the ability to transport passengers to Ponta Delgada, Santa Maria doesn’t even have a proper hospital. Sick people who have the bad luck of ending up at Santa Maria are bound for some possibly deadly waiting as it has happened before, because an aircraft has to be flown in from Lajes, pick up the passenger and take him to Ponta Delgada. This takes time. Maybe too much time!
Airplanes like the Boeing 767 or 777-200 are more than able to land at Ponta Delgada, and because the planes that divert into the Azores are usually already halfway on their oceanic crossing, take-off with enough fuel for their destination isn’t a problem.
I just wonder why Ponta Delgada isn’t chosen as the primary airfield in case of medical related emergencies…
Feel free to comment in English or in Portuguese.
Name: João Couto Resendes
Very simple reason why Lajes and Santa Maria are a 1st option.Both of them have a longer,better and safer runway than Ponta Delgada.Flight Crews take in consideration the overall safety of the flight instead of just the well being of a ill fortuned passenger…..
Great article overall…..
Hello Marco. I don’t quite agree with you. To say the runways at Lajes and Santa Maria are longer, yes, that’s right, but to call them safer? That’s an overstatement. Following that logic than Lisbon’s 4000 meter runway is safer the Lajes, and Edwards Air Base with it’s 12000 meter runway is safer then any other airfield? An airplane can either operate at an airfield – even if with limitations – or it can’t. Airplanes like the 767 are seasonal visitors to Ponta Delgada and they operate in all safety.
Thank you for commenting.
Hello Joao
Actually in my point of view some runways are safer than others,not my opinion ,but thru several conversations with pilots i have met over the years.Sometimes the lenght of the runway is not always relevant but in the case of LPAZ it is.For instance La Paz Bolivia has a 13000 foot runway,yet its not really considered safe,In the case of LPAZ its not only long but safe due to the fact that beyond the runway thereshold there is still plenty of flat surface ,in case something went wrong.You being a resident of LPPD know exactly whats beyond runway 12 and runway 30.
Continue with the good work.
Always good to stay informed with aviation news from the AZORES.
In that point, yes, I will agree with you. Pilots probably feel more confident with those safety margins, but still, that’s not a reason not to choose Ponta Delgada.
The proximity of the hospital is gone when you consider the extra time the aircraft would take to dump fuel to safely land at PDL. Just the other day, a Virgin A340-600 dumped fuel for some 30 minutes before landing at Lajes. And it still landed very heavy. Now, if you consider that the runway at Lajes is over 3300 m and that the landing distance of runway 12 at PDL (the only ILS equipped runway) is only 2257 m, how much more time would the A340 have to spend up in the air dumping fuel? Probably more than enough time to land at Lajes and take the passenger in distress to the hospital in Angra.
So, not only the proximity advantage is gone, but also the economical advantage for the airline is much greater (not to mention the environmental benefits of wasting less fuel).
As for medical emergencies al SMA, that is simple crazy. If you cannot land at Lajes (bad weather or some other reason) and you don’t want to land at PDL, then you will get a passenger to a proper hospital much faster if you divert all the way to Lisbon.
J.Silva, hope you don’t mind me correcting some informations in your comment. The runway at PDL which is ILS equipped is runway 30 and the LDA on that runway is 2279 meters (according to an old AIP, not sure if that has been changed). The maximum TODA here is 2653 meters.
I agree with you. An aircraft which has to dump fuel to safely land here, but doesn’t have to do the same to land at TER, should use Lajes as the first medical diversion airfield. The airplanes I refer to are those who don’t have to dump fuel to safely land at PDL or that will not have problems taxiing and parking at PDL. I believe most of the jetliners that fly near the Azores reach the middle of their flights close by, and to airplanes like the 767 or 777-200 landing here would not be a big deal.
Thank you for commenting.
Yep, you’re right about the runways. I meant runway 30 and, give it or take it another couple of meters, the LDA is below 2300m.
I doubt that the 767 and 777 you mentioned would be able to land at PDL without dumping fuel (unless their final destination was Lisbon or some other airport within ~1000nm of PDL). Most 777 that have diverted to the Azores were BA birds flying between London and the Caribbean/South America, since those are the routes that take those planes closer to the Azores. Therefore, the distance left for them to cover until their final destination would mean having a reasonable quantity of fuel left onboard. PDL-London maybe just over 1500nm, but I’m pretty sure London-bound flights take quite some extra fuel due to the delays you are prone to face before landing at some of the most congested airports around (Heathrow and Gatwick). As for PDL-Antigua, despite being the shortest Caribbean destination that I can think of, it is still a good 2400nm away.
I can’t argue about that. I still haven’t got the knowledge to correctly reply to you.
Gostei muito do teu artigo João! Muito interessante mesmo de ler, parabéns!! Continua assim, força!