I have just seen that a BA flight from London to Miami took a 2 hour detour to use up fuel before heading to its destination. It is not the first time I have heard of this.
Why do planes need to use up/dump the fuel before landing? Surely it’s better to be safe and have more than enough fuel for the entire journey therefore not use up a full tank just before landing?
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What flight was it that did the detour?
If you look up British Airways 207, the flight all have a flight time of 9 hours to 9 hours 40 minutes along reasonable paths, the difference is likely because of theater.
There is two exceptions, the one on Monday was diverted to Orlando and it too just over 10 hours, the change is after it reached Miami.
The last one is today
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/BAW207/history/20230622/0935Z/EGLL/EGLL where the flight diverted back to London a bit after it passed over Ireland. It has a lot if circular flying. The reason is that it did not fly to the destination and the fuel was not used up as usual. Airplanes’ max takeoff weight is larger than the max landing weight.
Normally it is not a problem because the extra weight is the fuel that is used during the flight. The amount of fuel you take a bit simplified what is needed to reach the destination and to that a buffer for a diversion to an alternative landing and a bit of extra time in the air. It will be less then max landing weight at the destination.
You need to dump or waste fuel if the length of the trip significantly decreases. So the plane was fuel because it flew London to London not London to Miami. If it had flown to Miami that would not have been needed.
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