FCA36

After going through the check-in procedure, the whole of our crew went over to the company briefing offices. On the flight there were three of us, the cockpit crew, and eight flight attendants, giving a total of eleven crew. I performed a general briefing for everyone, notifying them of the route, the length of time and various operational safety procedures that were in place today. The flight attendants then left to proceed to the aircraft and begin preparing it for the departure.

We then began looking through all the NOTAMS for the flight, but there was nothing particularly of note to us. The weather showed that the flight should be very smooth indeed, with very little turbulence at any part. The departure from Manchester would be initially bumpy as we passed through some reasonably low cloud layers and a little low-level windshear, but once we were above that we should be very comfortable. The forecast for Cancun was also very acceptable, with light winds, scattered clouds and temperatures of just over 30 degrees by the time we would arrive there. The only thing was that there would be the customary low visibility due to the humidity, but this shouldn't cause a problem, and the conditions looked to be visual anyway. The weather for our alternate, Cozumel, was much the same as Cancun, with a greater visibility, so there should be no problems there.

With little else to say and our departure time approaching fast, we left the briefing office and headed through security. We proceeded to our gate which was number 204 today. Upon our arrival there, there were already a number of passengers eagerly awaiting their flight. Although the departure time was reasonable, a lot of them would have been up since the crack of dawn, and were therefore quite tired. A few of them glanced up at us as we walked past. I walked over to the window and drank in the view of our aircraft today: G-OOAL. She sat there gleaming, and was being cleaned and refuelled after an earlier shuttle flight over to Faro and back. The tarmac below the aircraft was a frenzy of baggage trucks, fuel tankers, catering lorries, ground crew and various other operational vehicles. We proceeded down the airbridge, and I broke off once we got to the aircraft door to nip down the stairs and speak with one of the ground crew to make sure everything was OK. Once I had confirmed that my aircraft was indeed fit to fly from his point of view, I jogged back up the stairs and walked the rest of the way into the aircraft. I took a quick walk down the aisles to make sure everything looked OK, and then I proceeded onto the flight deck where Joe had already started the APU and was transferring the packs over to bleed air from that, and John was making himself acquainted with the jumpseat. I settled myself in and asked John if he'd like to do the walkaround. He was more than happy to, as that was about all he was going to do operational wise on this flight.

I glanced up into the terminal and saw that our gate was filling up rapidly; the number had obviously been displayed on the screens and passengers were filing in. I opened up my flight case and brought out various items for the flight, including the route, NOTAMS, weather and approach charts and various other bits and bobs which I stowed down in my compartment. I then began programming the FMC for our departure, first uplinking the route from our ACARS system via the CO ROUTE function, and then entering our planned departure runway (24L) and SID (WAL1R). Then I scrolled through the route with the EHSI in PLAN mode confirming that everything was correct. I then moved onto the PERF page, entering all the information. The calculations told us that we would be just shy of our Maximum Gross Weight of 408,000 lbs, so we were using flap 10 for takeoff with no thrust derate. We would be cruising at an initial altitude of 34,000 feet, climbing up to 36,000 later on, when we were well inside US airspace. With the FMC programming complete for now, and John returning from his walkaround, I decided to run the departure briefing with Joe, my First Officer.

"OK Joe, the departure briefing then. It'll be my departure off runway 24L here at Manchester. We've both checked the NOTAMS and ATC restrictions, and there's nothing that will limit us on our flight today. For the taxi we can expect Delta and then a hold at Delta 1. They'll probably ask us to contact tower before we reach the holding point, and then tower will either ask us to hold short if there's an arriving aircraft, or clear us all the way to the Tango 1 holding point if the coast is clear. We'll want all of the runway today so if we don't get Tango 1 you should request it if possible. For the actual takeoff, it's going to be a standard departure. V1 is 157, VR is 162 and V2 is 166. I'll set 180 in the box for an initial climbout speed. If there's a problem below 80 knots we'll stop the aircraft as normal. If there's a problem above 80 knots, we'll only stop for a major problem such as an engine fire or failure confirmed by two parameters. If I decide to reject the takeoff I'll call "Stop." I'll retard the thrust levers and apply full reverse thrust if applicable. I'll maintain directional control, and probably stop the aircraft on the runway. If you could confirm speed brake lever deployment, monitor RTO braking and tell ATC of our problem. Anything above V1, we'll take the problem into the air. I'll accelerate to our climb speed and then take action from there. If it's an engine fire, your actions will be to close the thrust lever, close the fuel valve, pull the fire lever, and rotate it if the fire does not extinguish. If you could then contact ATC and tell them of our problem and that we'd like to fly a left circuit for a return back to Manchester on 24R if possible. The SID is a Wallasey 1 Romeo. The chart says climb straight ahead. At Manchester 3 DME turn right to 275 degrees, which I've got in the box there. We intercept the Manchester 257 radial, crossing Manchester 8 DME at 2500 or above, which is set in the FMC. At Manchester 13 DME we must be at 4000 or above, and at 16 DME we must be at 5000. When we get to 19 DME we turn right to intercept the Wallasey 130 radial, crossing Wallasey at 5000. Obviously these restrictions could be absolved by ATC depending on traffic. And we've just got to note that it's possible we may be instructed to do a left turn after departure for separation from any missed approaches over on 24R. OK, I think that's the departure, as long as there are no questions we'll continue."

By now the passenger boarding was almost complete, so I decided to get some IFR clearance from ATC:

"Manchester delivery, good morning, Jetset 36 ready for IFR clearance to Cancun."

"Jetset 36, hello, you're cleared to Cancun as filed. Expect runway 24L, Wallasey 1 Romeo departure. Climb initial altitude 5,000. Departure frequency is 128.05, squawk 2227 and the QNH is 1015."

I read that back, setting 5000 in the MCP and setting the squawk code.

"Jetset 36, readback is correct, call ground for push and start."

I decided to also listen to the latest ATIS:

"Manchester information, acknowledge receipt of information Romeo. Time 0850 Zulu. Wind 290 at 12 knots. Departure runway 24L. Arrival runway 24R. Visibility 10 kilometre or more. Few 2,900, scattered 3,200. Temperature 15, dewpoint 9, QNH 1015."

That was as expected.

By now, the passenger boarding was complete, so I decided to do a quick welcome PA:

"Ladies and gentlemen, a very good morning to you from the flight deck. My name is Tom Wootton, and I'm your captain today. I'd like to welcome you all on this First Choice Boeing 767 flight over to Cancun. On my right here is my First Officer, Joe Wilkins, and also sitting behind me is our relief captain, John Matterson. Looking after you in the cabin today are Elizabeth, John, Mark, Helen, Jane, Martin, Susan and Rebecca. We're just doing our final preparations for departure now, the doors will be closed shortly and we expect an on-time departure in just about 15 minutes. Our departure today will take us off Manchester's second runway, facing southwest. We'll make a right turn shortly after takeoff, and head in a north-westerly direction, leaving the English coast over Liverpool. As we head over the Irish sea, you should be able to see the Isle of Man off to the right, and the island of Anglesey off to the left. We'll pass right over Dublin, turning left to leave the Irish coast at Shannon. We'll then strike off over the Atlantic for around 4 hours, before coasting in over Newfoundland in Canada. We'll then make a left turn to head roughly southwest, passing down near Boston, following the coast of the USA down past New York, then heading south into Florida. We'll leave Florida on the west side, then heading over the Gulf of Mexico and beginning our descent into Cancun. Flight time today is expected to be approximately 10 hours. The flight should be very smooth, with just a few light bumps as we pass through cloud after our departure. The weather over in Cancun looks very nice - light winds, high cloud and temperatures of about 35 degrees by the time we get there. I hope you all have a very pleasant flight with First Choice today, and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. Thank you."

As I put the handset down, the interphone rang from the forward cabin. I spoke to Elizabeth, the purser, and she told me the doors were closed and that the cabin was ready for departure. I glanced at the chrono, and it showed we had about 10 minutes until departure. I mentioned this to her and she was fine with waiting a little while.

Five minutes later me and Joe ran the before start checklist, and then he called for push:

"Manchester ground, good morning, Jetset 36, stand 204, ready for push and start."

"Jetset 36, hello, push and start approved, call for taxi."

"Push approved, Jetset 36."

Then I called ground for our pushback:

"Ground, hello."

"Ground to flight deck, morning."

"OK, we've been cleared for push and start, so standing by on the brakes."

"Alright sir, all ready down here. The aircraft's clear, beacons are rotating, all doors and hatches are closed, we're ready for pushback, release brakes please."

"OK, brakes released."

"Thank you sir, and you're cleared to start 2 then 1 on the push."

"2 and 1 on the push, thanks, and off the blocks at 1014."

There was the familiar judder as the aircraft began to move silently backwards. I turned the number 2 start switch to GND and watched as the N1 rose. At 17% I switched on the fuel, and watched the slow rise to 49%, when I heard the familiar roar and the starter clicked out. I repeated the procedure for engine 1.

"Set park brakes please."

"Parking brake set, the pressure's normal and we have two good starts."

"Thank you."

When both engines were stable, I closed the isolation switches and the APU bleed, turning the packs back on. I shut down the APU and observed its cooldown.

"OK sir, the tug is removed and the pin is out, I'll wave on the right and have a good flight."

"Thanks a lot ground, see you on the right, bye now."

"Goodbye."

With the aircraft clear, I asked for flaps 10 to be set. We then carefully checked the controls, using the STAT page on the EICAS. Joe waved to the ground crew on the right and requested taxi clearance:

"Ground, Jetset 36 for taxi."

"Jetset 36, taxi via Delta to hold Delta 1."

"Delta for Delta 1, Jetset 36."

"Clear on the left."

"Clear on the right."

I clicked off the brake and advanced the levers forward slightly, observing the familiar whine of the engines. When we were rolling I pulled the levers back and let us coast. When we turned to the left Joe did his checks:

"Turning to the left, one, two, three horizons steady, decreasing through 270."

He did the same for our small right hand turn, and before we knew it we were being handed off to tower. Joe called tower:

"Tower, good morning, Jetset 36 with you taxiing for Delta 1."

"Jetset 36, hello, hold at Delta 1 please, traffic is an ERJ on final."

"Hold Delta 1, Jetset 36."

I brought her to a halt before the line, and we observed the BA ERJ-145 perform a beautiful touchdown.

"Jetset 36, after the ERJ left to right, cleared across 24R and taxi to hold Tango 1."

"After the ERJ left to right, cross 24R and continue to Tango 1, Jetset 36."

After ensuring that nobody else was on the approach, I pushed the throttles forward again and rolled us across the arrivals runway. I announced:

"Cabin crew, seats for departure please."

As we got closer we saw a BA A319 just rotating on the EGLL shuttle service, with a Thomas Cook A330 lining up. Joe and I ran the before takeoff checklist, and I brought her to a halt again just short of the hold line. The A330 started rolling after a short wait, and we got our lineup:

"Jetset 36, after the A330 line up and wait 24L."

"After the A330, line up and wait 24L, Jetset 36."

Joe cycled the no smoking signs to signal to the cabin crew that takeoff was imminent, and he also turned on our white strobe lights. I armed the autothrottle and we were ready to go. We had to sit on the runway for a while due to the require minute's separation between aircraft using the second runway, but soon enough we were cleared:

"Jetset 36, wind 290 at 13, cleared for takeoff runway 24L, have a good flight sir."

"Cleared for takeoff 24L, thank you, Jetset 36."

Joe put on our landing and nose gear lights, and I brought her to a final stop. I confirmed that both other pilots were ready, and then advanced the thrust levers to 40%. I then engaged N1/EPR mode on the autothrottle, and that set our takeoff thrust setting of 96.9% N1. The throaty roar of our engines was there, and everything sounded good. Soon, 80 knots was called, and then it seemed like an age as the speedtape slowly moved downwards. Finally, the V1 and rotate calls came, and I smoothly heaved the beast into the air.

"Positive climb."

"Gear up."

"Gear up."

I accelerated the aircraft to our initial climbout speed of 180 knots. As we reached the speed I called for flaps 5 to reduce the drag. Slowly we crept up to 1,500 feet which was our acceleration altitude. I called for VNAV and LNAV on the flight director, and the required speed and pitch was displayed. I lowered the nose to set the pitch, and continued the straight climbout.

"Jetset 36, contact departure now on 128.05, good day."

"128.05 for Jetset 36, thank you and have a nice day."

As the speed increased up to 240 knots, I called for flap 1, then flap up as per the PFD commands.

"Manchester departure, good morning, Jetset 36 is climbing through 3,000 feet for 5,000, Wallasey 1 Romeo."

"Jetset 36, morning, maintain 5,000 please, expect higher clearance shortly."

"Maintain 5,000, Jetset 36."

We reached 5,000 feet well prior to Wallasey, and the autothrottle powered us back to comply with the speed restriction. Soon we were cleared above though:

"Jetset 36, no altitude restriction now, climb flight level 120."

"Climb flight level 120, Jetset 36, thank you."

I put 12000 in the box and pressed VNAV again, and we were off. Climb power was commanded, and I pitched the nose up to maintain the speed. Joe pressed the Alert button to release the cabin crew. At 8,000 feet I engaged the left autopilot, and relaxed my arms.

Climbing through 10,000 feet, Joe turned off the landing lights and cycled the no smoking signs to let the cabin crew know of the end of the "sterile cockpit" period, whilst I monitored the acceleration to our best climb speed.

"Jetset 36, cleared to flight level 280."

"Climb flight level 280, Jetset 36."

I set 28000 in the box. As we climbed through 15,000 it smoothed out and I turned off the seatbelt signs. I looked down to the right and I could see the bustling city of Liverpool, and further on right the way across the Ribble Estuary where I had driven from early in the morning, and up past Blackpool towards the Lake District.

By the time we had levelled out at FL340, we were well out into the Irish Sea, and the weather had cleared up. I decided to do a PA:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, hello again from the flight deck, it's your captain speaking. We've just levelled off at our initial cruising altitude of 34,000 feet. We will be climbing higher than this later on in the flight as we burn fuel and it becomes more efficient for us to fly at higher altitudes. We're currently over the Irish Sea, and those of you on the right side of the aircraft will be able to see the Isle of Man. Those on the left - you're not short of a view either, you can see right over Anglesey in Northern Wales. We'll shortly be coasting in over Ireland, and we're currently headed direct for Dublin. You should get a nice view of the city on both sides of the aircraft. Once we're past Dublin, we'll make a left turn to head direct to Shannon in the south-west of Ireland. We'll leave Shannon and head straight out across the Atlantic on a special route called a North Atlantic Track, which is a set route for commercial aircraft to fly across the Atlantic. When we're nearing the coast of North America I'll talk to you again and update you on the progress of the flight and also the weather over in Cancun. For now though, please sit back, relax and enjoy your flight with First Choice. Thank you."

Me and Joe settled in, loosened our shoulder straps and made ourselves comfortable while John went back for his crew rest.

Flying over Shannon, we took a look at the last piece of land we would see for at least 4 hours. Then we looked straight ahead at a familiar sight, one with which we would become ever more familiar as the flight progressed. Then Elizabeth came in with our hot lunch - very welcome indeed! It was impressive today - smoked salmon steak with peas, beans and potatoes and a delicious chocolate dessert. Shame about the lack of wine though...

Joe and I made small talk in between monitoring the progress and performing fuel and position calculations. A couple of hours later John came in to sit in for Joe, who went off for a sleep and a read. I was beginning to feel weary at this point, but I knew I would be glad of my late replacement. Shortly after John came in, the center tanks ran dry and I turned off the pumps. More fuel calculations indicated that we were a little ahead of our fuel schedule, which is always positive. Another two hours was passed quickly with more chit chat, and Joe reluctantly returned and replaced John. John went and sat back in the jumpseat for a while, as I wanted to witness the landfall of the aircraft. Soon we had Newfoundland in sight. I picked up the PA handset:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it's your captain speaking again. Just to let you know that we're nearing the end of our Atlantic crossing now. We have Newfoundland in sight straight ahead of us here, and you should be able to see land within the next few minutes. From here we will head south-west down into US airspace. We'll generally follow the US coast, passing to the east of Boston, down past New York, and then heading straight for Florida. I'll probably talk to you again just before we reach the Gulf of Mexico in a few hours, but for now I hope you are all enjoying your flight, and if you have any questions for either us up front here or the cabin staff, please don't hesitate to ask. Thank you."

It was time for me to head back and grab some sleep. I turned back to John, who kindly offered to keep my seat warm whilst I rested. I went back into the cabin and had a quick chat with a couple of the cabin staff before retreating into the depths of the crew rest area. I sat down, took my jacket off and made myself comfortable...

...immediately I was being woken up with a glass of orange juice and a kind smile.

"What's up Liz?"

"It's the end of your rest, John wants a break up there."

Oh heck, it always goes far too quickly.

"Ah, OK, thanks Liz, tell them I'll be up front in a minute."

I drank my orange juice and headed to the washroom to splash my face and freshen up a little. I went back to the crew rest area to grab my jacket, and headed back up to the flight deck.

"Hi guys."

"Hey Tom, your seat's still warm!"

"Thanks John!"

I took my seat and strapped in while John stretched his legs. I noticed that we had reached step-climb point while I was asleep and we were now cruising at FL360. When John returned Joe got up for a quick walk, and then it was back to a three-strong flight deck crew.

Another couple of hours passed, and we were approaching the Gulf of Mexico and, shortly after that, our descent point. I nipped back to use the washroom, and then returned to plan the descent.

"OK Joe, so the approach briefing then. It'll be my approach and landing. There's no standard arrival to be flown into Cancun. We'll be taking the ILS onto runway 12 as things stand at the moment. I've entered the required waypoints into the FMC, and they're simply COCOS which acts as the beginning of a base leg for us, then Cancun 11 DME which is entered here as CUN11. The ILS frequency for runway 12 is 110.10, and the course is 122 degrees, which is all set here for an autotune from the FMC. It'll be a flap 30 landing, with a VREF of 139 knots. I'll call for a speed of 200 knots as we turn onto a base leg, and we'll probably use speed intervene from VNAV for that. As we approach the turn onto final I'll call for speed down to 170. Once the localiser and glideslope are alive, I'll engage approach hold and allow the autopilot to line us up. We should be visual fairly early, so once I'm visual I'll disconnect the autopilot, disengaging all of the modes. I'll control thrust manually. The flap schedule will be as per the PFD. I'll call for gear down shortly before the turn onto final. I think that's about it, unless there's any questions?"

"No questions thanks."

"OK, thank you."

As we approached the coastline, I decided to do a final PA:

"Hello again ladies and gentlemen, it's your captain speaking. We're just approaching the Gulf of Mexico now, and we're going to be starting our descent fairly soon. You probably won't get much of a view on the approach as most of it will be performed over the sea, however, you may catch a few glimpses of the city as we make our final preparations to land. The weather over in Cancun is looking to be very nice indeed. There are light winds with only a few low clouds. The visibility is often poor in this area, but it's relatively good today so it should be fairly smooth. The temperature is currently showing 33 degrees. I hope you have all enjoyed your flight with First Choice today, and that you continue to enjoy it right through the approach and landing. On behalf of Joe, my First Officer, and the relief captain John, it's been a pleasure having you on board today. Thank you and we hope you have a great stay in Mexico."

The top of descent point was quickly upon us, and Joe requested descent:

"Jetset 36, requesting descent."

"Jetset 36, descend and maintain flight level 150."

"Descend flight level 150, Jetset 36."

I set 15000 in the box and pressed VNAV. The engines spooled down and we felt the slight dropping feeling as the vertical speed increased.

As we passed FL250 I turned on the seat belt signs, to give the cabin crew plenty of time to check the cabin. Soon we were given further descent clearance down to 8,000 feet, and we reduced the speed to 240 knots with the aid of a little spoiler nearing 10,000. Joe cycled the no smoking signs to let the cabin know of the start of the "sterile cockpit" period, and he turned on the landing lights at the same time. We all tightened our harnesses as we went through a bumpy patch passing through cloud. I stowed the spoilers as the speed stabilised.

We hit COCOS at 3000 feet as planned, and I used speed intervene to reduce the speed to 200 knots. Continuing the descent to 2,500, we both watched the PFD to see the localiser come alive. Soon it did, and I engaged LOC hold and set the speed to 170. Monitoring the turn onto final, the glideslope came alive too and I engaged APP mode. Joe called ATC:

"Jetset 36 is fully established ILS runway 12."

"Jetset 36, descend on the ILS and contact tower now on 118.6, bye bye."

"Descend on the ILS and tower on 118.6, cheerio."

I announced that I was visual with the runway and disengaged the autopilot and autothrottle. Joe contacted tower:

"Cancun tower, good afternoon, Jetset 36 is 8 miles fully established runway 12."

"Jetset 36, hello, continue runway 12."

"Continue, Jetset 36."

I called for gear down, and Joe obliged. We continued on the approach, with Joe setting the flaps as I called, right the way to flap 30. The GPWS calls came piping through. We ran the landing checklist. The runway crawled nearer and nearer, with me adjusting my position and intermittently glancing at the speedtape, and Joe watching my every move. As the GPWS call hit 20, I pulled the throttles right back to idle and began raising the nose, increasing the rotation at 10 feet. The aircraft settled softly onto its mains and I heard the spoiler lever move back. I pulled firmly on the reverse thrust levers to give us 50% reverse, and Joe confirmed that the spoilers had indeed extended and monitored autobraking. I brought the nose down onto the tarmac and kept the aircraft aligned with the centerline using rudder. At 80 knots I disengaged the autobrakes and used the toe brakes. 60 knots was time for disengaging the reversers, and I continued to slow her down manually to 15 knots when we exited the runway to the left.

"Jetset 36, contact ground on 121.7, goodbye."

"121.7, Jetset 36, bye."

"Ground, Jetset 36, runway 12 vacated."

"Jetset 36, taxiway Alpha to Gate 14."

"Alpha and 14, Jetset 36."

As I steered her in, Joe raised the flaps, turned off the lights, reset the trim and started the APU. Upon docking at the gate, I brought the APU generators online and then shut down the engines, turning off the fasten seatbelt signs. We ran the shutdown checks.

Well, a very warm welcome to Cancun. The weather here is pretty reasonable, with moderate visibility and temperatures of around 30 degrees. We've just disembarked our 767-300, which is currently being cleaned and readied for the return flight to Manchester. We flew 4,300 nautical miles in just over 10 hours, and we carried 274 happy passengers who are now enjoying the delights of Mexico. I hope you enjoyed your flight with First Choice, and I'd like to thank my First Officer, Joe Wilkins, and the relief captain, John Matterson, for assisting me on the flight today.

Thanks for reading! Any questions, comments or requests for flight write-ups would be appreciated.

Tom Wootton
woottsbj25@hotmail.com