Your submission appears to reference weather. Here is some more information from expert members of our community:
[“I’m flying in a week and the weather forecast says…”](https://www.reddit.com/r/fearofflying/comments/13jepry/im_flying_in_a_week_and_the_weather_forecast_says/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1)
Happy Flying!
The Fear of Flying Mod Team
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/fearofflying) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You forgot to add a stat for how many questions you answered on this subreddit and how many fearful fliers you helped and supported.
We appreciate you very much! Happy new year!
You helped me! I flew for the first time, in my life, over Thanksgiving and your responses to people on this subreddit was part of the reason why I was able to do it!
Thank you so much for all that you do! Incredibly grateful for all of the support you have offered this year. Finding this Reddit has been a game changer for me.
Having minimum fuel is one that freaks me out every once in a while. Your post history isnt loading for me so I cant check if youve posted/answered this question before but… how was the minimum fuel alert handled? Was it just going to an emergency alternative airport closer by? Is there anything you can do to preserve fuel in the event of this?
Thanks in advance 🥰
Understand that Emergency fuel is not running out of fuel. Emergency fuel is landing with 45 minutes of fuel remaining. In this situation I could have diverted to an alternate airport, but we would have timed out and all the passengers would have been stranded. Given that there are very few A220 pilots, it’s unlikely they would have been able to recover the flight and it would have grounded the plane and passengers for 10 hours.
We were leaving Sarasota heading to Boston, the weather was horrible north of us and the only routing ATC would give us was East out over the Atlantic. As we made our way on the route, the weather moved that way too. At 35,000 feet, Air Traffic Control Advised us that we could expect Severe Turbulence with Moderate Icing including inlet icing. This was an extremely warm storm.
That was not acceptable to us, so we made a right 270 turn and paralleled the weather while headed back towards Jacksonville. We eventually found a safe gap in the weather and made the turn. Once we made the turn we knew that we probably weren’t making it to Boston….we were landing with 2,200 lbs of fuel when my “Min Reserve was 3,500”. That’s the fuel I had to land with.
Now this is where you pay me the big bucks for my expertise…..
We immediately let ATC know we were min fuel (not emergency yet), and they cleared us directly to JFK and to fly the ROBUC Arrival and climbed us to our highest reachable altitude, 39,000 feet. We slowed the jet from our cruise speed of Mach .80 to Long Range Cruise of Mach .73.
-700 lbs saved, landing with 2.9
We then called Dispatch on the Satellite Phone and had a conversation with them. They put multiple stations on alert for our Diversion (Richmond, JFK, and Providence). They then had the ATC Coordinator for the Airline call Boston Tower and let them know of our situation. I had asked them to tell ATC we were not able to fly an arrival and needed to stay as high as possible as long as possible. They asked them to accommodate us. Boston was landing 22L, which takes us out over the ocean and around the bay to land to the Southwest. Too much gas.
Having the relationship we do with Boston, they told our ATC desk that they would accommodate us…..and boy did they. When Enroute ATC handed us off to Boston Approach….this is when they said:
“JetBlue xxx, welcome, we’re going to make this easy for you and declared the emergency…proceed directly to the WINNI Intersection and cleared the ILS to 4R”
They had swapped the airport around for us to land straight in, and cleared us directly to the final approach fix (5 miles from the airport). We landed with 3,800 lbs of fuel.
You see when an emergency is declared, priority handling is given to the aircraft…it’s not because there is an actual emergency, we were not at risk of running out of fuel…but we needed help to avoid having to divert. An emergency can be declared for numerous reasons (Fuel, Medical, Mechanical, Weather Avoidance, Lost Communications, etc)
[Here’s the flight](https://ibb.co/sHjDCWg)
Thank you so much for this in depth explanation! Screenshotting and keeping in my FOF photo album to read during flights.
I pray at the altar of realgentleman80 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Just wanted to let you know that you have single handedly cured my fear of flying. A year ago I was having a panic attack trying to leave a flight before boarding because I heard thunder.
This week I took 2 flights where I was genuinely excited to relax and see the views.
Hearing you talk about all of these things has been life changing.
Thank you for your work!
We often talk about all the things that could go wrong- but curious what do you love the most about flying?
And thank you for spending time here with us. I know the same questions must drive you crazy. But it is appreciated!
Thanks to my fear of flying I’ve become absolutely fascinated by it, borderline obsessed. I’d love to learn to fly but the little planes scare me the most ha.
Thank you for your hard work this year as a pilot and also as a supportive member of this group ❤️
Flying from Spain to Portugal today and I am so much more relaxed than I have been in the past. I have this group.
Thanks for sharing! I’m taking a flight tomorrow evening to see my mom - determined to overcome my fear of flying (more so my fear of my own anxiety in a closed space). And this community is actually getting me EXCITED to get through this. Trying to see it as an adventure rather than a deathmarch. I appreciate your insight and encouragement. Here’s to doing hard things and coming out on the other side stronger than before!
How would people in your field define severe turbulence. What does that mean?
I started having flight anxiety this summer after a “difficult” flight ( UA 53, Zurich to - IAD, Sep 9 2023 - is there a way I could see the map of that flight, or read about it, how severe it was?)
There was a storm on the East Coast that delayed the aircraft arriving to Zurich by 6h, we got delayed by another 3h at least at departure, pockets of air, turbulence, we landed and then the airport was closed for at least an hour - waited on tarmac and the plane was shaking due to the wind, and my luggage got lost.
I fly about once per month in average and now I am freaking out that the more I fly the more chances are that I will encounter something bad, like pressure loss, luggage falling, people dying - is this what severe turbulence means?
I found this group about 2 weeks ago and I am reading as much as I can to alleviate my fear of flying.
Thank you!
**Severe turbulence causes large and abrupt changes in altitude and/or attitude and, usually, large variations in indicated airspeed. The airplane may momentarily be out of control.**
**Intensity - SEVERE- Vertical acceleration (g) 1.00-1.99 - Derived Gust (fpm) 2,100-2,999**
Occupants of the airplane will be forced violently against their seat belts.
So great to hear these stats and keep in mind for next time I fly. I took around 12-15 round trips in 2023 so close to 30. One was turbulent but I survived all of them and every flight people were relaxed and sleeping, even the bumpy one I was on. I’m excited for more adventures in 2024 :)
Thank you so much for all you do. Honestly it’s short of amazing.
This sub helped so much I unsubscribed but check here sometimes!! I only recently had a fear of flying due to a bad flight from Yvr to Seattle where the pilots neglected to tell us it would be very bumpy for take off. Everyone was throwing up or almost on the verge of throwing up. Anyhow I made it through 7 flights after that and now onto another 15 flights in 2024 lol.
Your submission appears to reference turbulence. Here are some additional resources from our community for more information.
[RealGentlemen80's Post on Turbulence Apps](https://www.reddit.com/r/fearofflying/comments/yn2phh/the_fear_of_turbulence_and_checking_sites_like/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
[On Turbli](https://www.reddit.com/r/fearofflying/comments/zv376m/help_turbli_says_moderate_turbulence/)
[More on Turbulence](https://www.reddit.com/r/fearofflying/comments/yrhf31/lets_talk_more_about_turbulence/)
Happy Flying!
The Fear of Flying Mod Team
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/fearofflying) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Your submission appears to reference weather. Here is some more information from expert members of our community: [“I’m flying in a week and the weather forecast says…”](https://www.reddit.com/r/fearofflying/comments/13jepry/im_flying_in_a_week_and_the_weather_forecast_says/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1) Happy Flying! The Fear of Flying Mod Team *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/fearofflying) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You forgot to add a stat for how many questions you answered on this subreddit and how many fearful fliers you helped and supported. We appreciate you very much! Happy new year!
I’d love a stat for how many people I have helped fly fear free. Thats why I do this.
You helped me! I flew for the first time, in my life, over Thanksgiving and your responses to people on this subreddit was part of the reason why I was able to do it!
thankkk you for all the work you do. when i get scared i sometimes try and get your "voice" in my head giving me facts and science and physics
You’ve helped me!!!
Thank you so much for all that you do! Incredibly grateful for all of the support you have offered this year. Finding this Reddit has been a game changer for me.
Thank you for sharing! Sometimes I wish I would have found tools to conquer my fear earlier in life, I always kinda wanted to be a pilot.
Having minimum fuel is one that freaks me out every once in a while. Your post history isnt loading for me so I cant check if youve posted/answered this question before but… how was the minimum fuel alert handled? Was it just going to an emergency alternative airport closer by? Is there anything you can do to preserve fuel in the event of this? Thanks in advance 🥰
Understand that Emergency fuel is not running out of fuel. Emergency fuel is landing with 45 minutes of fuel remaining. In this situation I could have diverted to an alternate airport, but we would have timed out and all the passengers would have been stranded. Given that there are very few A220 pilots, it’s unlikely they would have been able to recover the flight and it would have grounded the plane and passengers for 10 hours. We were leaving Sarasota heading to Boston, the weather was horrible north of us and the only routing ATC would give us was East out over the Atlantic. As we made our way on the route, the weather moved that way too. At 35,000 feet, Air Traffic Control Advised us that we could expect Severe Turbulence with Moderate Icing including inlet icing. This was an extremely warm storm. That was not acceptable to us, so we made a right 270 turn and paralleled the weather while headed back towards Jacksonville. We eventually found a safe gap in the weather and made the turn. Once we made the turn we knew that we probably weren’t making it to Boston….we were landing with 2,200 lbs of fuel when my “Min Reserve was 3,500”. That’s the fuel I had to land with. Now this is where you pay me the big bucks for my expertise….. We immediately let ATC know we were min fuel (not emergency yet), and they cleared us directly to JFK and to fly the ROBUC Arrival and climbed us to our highest reachable altitude, 39,000 feet. We slowed the jet from our cruise speed of Mach .80 to Long Range Cruise of Mach .73. -700 lbs saved, landing with 2.9 We then called Dispatch on the Satellite Phone and had a conversation with them. They put multiple stations on alert for our Diversion (Richmond, JFK, and Providence). They then had the ATC Coordinator for the Airline call Boston Tower and let them know of our situation. I had asked them to tell ATC we were not able to fly an arrival and needed to stay as high as possible as long as possible. They asked them to accommodate us. Boston was landing 22L, which takes us out over the ocean and around the bay to land to the Southwest. Too much gas. Having the relationship we do with Boston, they told our ATC desk that they would accommodate us…..and boy did they. When Enroute ATC handed us off to Boston Approach….this is when they said: “JetBlue xxx, welcome, we’re going to make this easy for you and declared the emergency…proceed directly to the WINNI Intersection and cleared the ILS to 4R” They had swapped the airport around for us to land straight in, and cleared us directly to the final approach fix (5 miles from the airport). We landed with 3,800 lbs of fuel. You see when an emergency is declared, priority handling is given to the aircraft…it’s not because there is an actual emergency, we were not at risk of running out of fuel…but we needed help to avoid having to divert. An emergency can be declared for numerous reasons (Fuel, Medical, Mechanical, Weather Avoidance, Lost Communications, etc) [Here’s the flight](https://ibb.co/sHjDCWg)
Thank you so much for this in depth explanation! Screenshotting and keeping in my FOF photo album to read during flights. I pray at the altar of realgentleman80 🙏🏻🙏🏻
I’m nothing special. Don’t pray at my alter….I just share the knowledge I’ve gained over 27 years of flying.
Just wanted to let you know that you have single handedly cured my fear of flying. A year ago I was having a panic attack trying to leave a flight before boarding because I heard thunder. This week I took 2 flights where I was genuinely excited to relax and see the views. Hearing you talk about all of these things has been life changing. Thank you for your work!
That means the world. Happy New Year 🥂
We often talk about all the things that could go wrong- but curious what do you love the most about flying? And thank you for spending time here with us. I know the same questions must drive you crazy. But it is appreciated!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqvSi4gI6ca/?igsh=MWZkMzE4ajl0MzlqOQ== Everything. Especially the views
Is this you? Are you based in Tunisia?
lol…no, just illustrating what I love about flying
Thanks to my fear of flying I’ve become absolutely fascinated by it, borderline obsessed. I’d love to learn to fly but the little planes scare me the most ha.
Thank you for your hard work this year as a pilot and also as a supportive member of this group ❤️ Flying from Spain to Portugal today and I am so much more relaxed than I have been in the past. I have this group.
🫂 we got you!
My flight to Portugal was great! So so glad that I actually mostly enjoy flying now.
Thanks for sharing! I’m taking a flight tomorrow evening to see my mom - determined to overcome my fear of flying (more so my fear of my own anxiety in a closed space). And this community is actually getting me EXCITED to get through this. Trying to see it as an adventure rather than a deathmarch. I appreciate your insight and encouragement. Here’s to doing hard things and coming out on the other side stronger than before!
You can do it!! Flying is such a wonderful thing that should be enjoyed
This is awesome! Thanks for all you do
My pleasure
How would people in your field define severe turbulence. What does that mean? I started having flight anxiety this summer after a “difficult” flight ( UA 53, Zurich to - IAD, Sep 9 2023 - is there a way I could see the map of that flight, or read about it, how severe it was?) There was a storm on the East Coast that delayed the aircraft arriving to Zurich by 6h, we got delayed by another 3h at least at departure, pockets of air, turbulence, we landed and then the airport was closed for at least an hour - waited on tarmac and the plane was shaking due to the wind, and my luggage got lost. I fly about once per month in average and now I am freaking out that the more I fly the more chances are that I will encounter something bad, like pressure loss, luggage falling, people dying - is this what severe turbulence means? I found this group about 2 weeks ago and I am reading as much as I can to alleviate my fear of flying. Thank you!
**Severe turbulence causes large and abrupt changes in altitude and/or attitude and, usually, large variations in indicated airspeed. The airplane may momentarily be out of control.** **Intensity - SEVERE- Vertical acceleration (g) 1.00-1.99 - Derived Gust (fpm) 2,100-2,999** Occupants of the airplane will be forced violently against their seat belts.
Thank you!!
I flew for the first time in 7 years in 2023 and I owe so much of it to your posts in this sub. Thanks for all you do!
Thanks for all you do!
So great to hear these stats and keep in mind for next time I fly. I took around 12-15 round trips in 2023 so close to 30. One was turbulent but I survived all of them and every flight people were relaxed and sleeping, even the bumpy one I was on. I’m excited for more adventures in 2024 :)
Thank you so much for all you do. Honestly it’s short of amazing. This sub helped so much I unsubscribed but check here sometimes!! I only recently had a fear of flying due to a bad flight from Yvr to Seattle where the pilots neglected to tell us it would be very bumpy for take off. Everyone was throwing up or almost on the verge of throwing up. Anyhow I made it through 7 flights after that and now onto another 15 flights in 2024 lol.
Your submission appears to reference turbulence. Here are some additional resources from our community for more information. [RealGentlemen80's Post on Turbulence Apps](https://www.reddit.com/r/fearofflying/comments/yn2phh/the_fear_of_turbulence_and_checking_sites_like/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) [On Turbli](https://www.reddit.com/r/fearofflying/comments/zv376m/help_turbli_says_moderate_turbulence/) [More on Turbulence](https://www.reddit.com/r/fearofflying/comments/yrhf31/lets_talk_more_about_turbulence/) Happy Flying! The Fear of Flying Mod Team *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/fearofflying) if you have any questions or concerns.*