Runway Lights Were “Not Working” During Delta Air Lines Airbus A330-200 Emergency Landing In Syracuse

Runway Lights Were “Not Working” During Delta Air Lines Airbus A330-200 Emergency Landing In Syracuse

• An Airbus A330-200 operated by Delta Air Lines landed on a dark runway in Syracuse, New York, due to an inflight emergency.
• The flight crew faced engine problems and initially chose to land on the runway as a precaution.
• The runway lights were turned off due to maintenance.

New details have emerged about a Delta Air Lines Airbus A330-200 making an emergency landing at Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SRY) earlier this week. The pilots chose to land on the airport’s longest runway even though its edge and center lights were shut off.

According to the crew, the aircraft was heavy and was approaching the airport “a little fast.” While SYR can handle widebody aircraft, most passenger planes operating at the airport are narrowbodies.

Flight path details

The aircraft, registered at N861NW, was operating as DL86 from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) to Frankfurt Airport (FRA) on Tuesday, February 27th, according to The Aviation Herald. Data from FlightAware shows that the A330-200 was airborne by 17:53 and quickly gained altitude. It turned east, flying over Lake Erie and eventually reaching its cruising altitude of 37,000 feet.

43 minutes into the flight, data shows the aircraft entering a holding pattern and descending to 34,000 feet. According to The Aviation Herald, the pilots entered the hold due to a problem with one of the Pratt & Whitney PW4168A engines. Around 20 nautical miles north of SYR, the crew declared an emergency and decided to divert to the airport. They reportedly advised Air Traffic Control (ATC) that they would perform an overweight landing.

No runway lights

The pilots said the landing would be “precautionary,” according to ATC communication obtained by the CNY Central I-Team.

“Had some engine issues up at altitude, so it’s a precautionary landing. We’ve got one engine in the front a little rough … so the company wanted us to land at the nearest suitable field, which is Syracuse.”

An air traffic controller reportedly responded to the crew, informing them that the lights on Runway 10/28 were not in working order.

“We don’t have the 10/28 edge lights and the center line lights appear to be not working at this time.”

However, one of the pilots said they would “continue” with their landing procedures due to the situation.

“Delta 86, yeah, we’re going to continue on runway 10/28 we are in an emergency.”

The plane then traveled south of the airport to the east and continued descending. As it was still more than 20,000 feet in the air, it spent another 20 minutes flying in a zig-zag path south of the airport before it lined up for its final approach.

“We’re going to be a little fast and a little heavy coming in,” one of the pilots reportedly said to ATC.

N861NW landed safely on Runway 28 at 19:18, nearly an hour and 45 minutes after departing from DTW.

A “very common” decision

At the time, SYR was operating in a south flow setup, meaning that aircraft were arriving and departing on Runway 15 – the shorter runway, according to CNY Central. Notice to Air Missions (NOTAMs) indicated that routine maintenance was being performed on the Runway 10/28 lights, which reportedly required them to be shut off at the electrical vault. The crews had not yet reactivated the vault to turn on the lights as the airport did not intend to use the runway.

Although the flight crew was informed of the lights, it did not change their decision to land on the runway. It is worth noting that the pilots initially referred to the landing as “precautionary” but later determined that it was an emergency. According to The Aviation Herald, the crew subsequently determined that the aircraft’s engines were not of much concern, but the brakes were.

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Simple Flying contacted Delta and SYR on Saturday for comment on the incident. Delta said it did not have “additional comments beyond what was public,” while a representative from SYR could not be immediately reached.

According to CNY Central, a spokesperson from the airport said the pilots’ decision to land on a longer runway during an emergency is common.

“This is a longer runway, and a decision like this by a pilot is very common in an emergency situation.”

Delta did deploy a replacement aircraft to continue DL86 and it departed the next morning at around 4:00. After inspections and possible repairs, N861NW returned to service on Friday after being repositioned back to DTW.

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