Brussels Airlines flight from Yaounde diverts twice: for a medical emergency and for duty time limitations

Brussels Airlines flight SN369, operated by Airbus A330-300 registered OO-SFB (Eurowings livery), from Douala and Yaounde to Brussels had to divert twice on its last leg, first to Tamanrasset, Algeria, for a medical emergency and then to Marseille, France, due to crew duty time restrictions. It landed in Brussels with a delay of 11 hours, making it impossible for the aircraft to perform flight SN501 to New York JFH, which was cancelled.

On 30 March, the Airbus A330-300 registered OO-SFB departed at 12:10 from Brussels Airport for a triangular flight SN369 to Douala, Yaounde and back to Brussels. The first and second legs were flown without any incident and almost on time.

At 22:05 (UTC+1), one hour late, the aeroplane took off from Yaounde for the last leg to Brussels Airport. However, two hours into the flight, the aircraft circled once, descended from FL400 to FL380 where it remained for a while before landing at Tamanrasset (TMR/DAAT) in the Algerian Sahara desert one hour later at 00:10 UTC.

Maaike Andries, a spokeswoman for Brussels Airlines, explained to Aviation24.be that “flight SN369 Yaounde-Brussels of 30 March had to make a diversion to Tammanrassat in Algeria because of a medical emergency with one of the passengers on board. The passenger in question needed medical assistance and was brought to a local hospital.“

It was 05:55 UTC on 31 March when the Airbus A330 could take off again. Another hurdle was waiting around the corner: the crew was reaching its maximum duty time. “Due to crew duty time restrictions, the flight could not be continued to Brussels, but was planned to go to Marseille. Another Brussels Airlines crew was flown to Marseille in order to bring the passengers and the aircraft to Brussels,” said Maaike Andries.

Hence, OO-SFB landed at Marseille four hours later, at 11:40 (UTC+2). It remained another three hours on the ground. Meanwhile, a replacement crew had arrived from Brussels on regular flight SN3597.

Eventually, flight SN369 could operate the last leg of its triangle, taking off from Marseille Provence at 15:10 to land at Brussels Airport at 16:30, 11 hours 25 minutes behind schedule.

The aircraft involved, OO-SFB, was scheduled to operate flight SN501 from Brussels to New York JFK on the same day at 10:35. In the absence of a replacement aircraft, this flight and its return from JFK were cancelled and the passengers were accommodated on other aircraft.