American Airlines Flight 2580 Forced to Divert to St. Kitts Due to Weather in Antigua

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From unexpected detours to unforeseen adventures ✈️ Despite Mother Nature’s curveball, American Airlines flight 2580 found its way through the Caribbean skies, making an unexpected stop in St. Kitts before continuing its journey to San Juan, Puerto Rico. 🌴☀️ #TravelAdventures #UnexpectedJourney

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6 COMMENTS

  1. What happened with AC 1832. 4-5 attempts to land and then flew off to Punta Cana.
    Arrived back at ANU @ 22:00 hrs.

  3. Why is it when an aircraft diverts to another airport it is made to sound as though it was an unforeseen event. The media needs to do proper research on why these things happen and report the facts to better educate folks reading articles.

    The airline (AA) during the planning phase of the flight form MIA to ANU knew that the weather (ceiling and visibility) would be at or below landing minimums based on the TAF (a meteorological forecast used to determine the legality of being able to launch/dispatch a flight to its intended destination). As a result an alternate airport(s) must be planned so that if the aircraft is unable to shoot the approach due to the visibility being at or below the required minimums and or it is not able to hold in a pattern assigned by Air Traffic Control or approved navigational charts until the weather improves, then a diversion to the alternate is necessary where the aircraft is refueled and the crew makes an assessment to determine if a second attempt can be made based on the weather conditions.

    So in the case of AA 2580 – the aircraft diverted to St. Kitts, the crew then determined along with their dispatcher that a second attempt could be made to try and get back into V.C. Bird, unfortunately the weather conditions did not improve resulting in another diversion but this time to San Juan as the weather in St. Kitts deteriorated below the landing minimums required to land back at St. Kitts.

    Other variables made the possibility of returning to Antigua more of a challenge as crew duty rest requirements prevented the crew from continuing to operate (this is a Part 117 legal requirement that pilots and the airline must abide by). The crew was sent to a hotel for the required rest before continuing back to Antigua the following morning.

    Now it is very possible that if the proper landing systems had been installed at V.C. Bird the flight could have landed, as an ILS system could have allowed for lower landing minimums. While we can not control the weather, if proper systems are in place we can still operate under conditions that will allow for poor visibility landings. Airlines spend millions of dollars in training crew members to operate under such conditions.

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