Plane after take-off to heavy to climb to cruising altitude?

[Count Iblis]

I was just listening to New York ATC on 11.309 MHz. Al Italia flight 687 was asked to climb to flight level 360 but Al Italia said that they would be able to do that in an hour's time. A few minutes later the flight was contacted and they were asked to climb to flight level 360 by 01.15 GMT, about an hour from now.

So, are planes typically too heavy to climb to cruising altititude right after take-off?

 

[negitron]

First off, did you miss a digit in there? Commercial aviation uses 118 to 132 MHz.

As to your question, yes, weight may be a factor here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climb

It depends on the aircraft, its fuel weight, atmospheric conditions and other factors. Additionally, there may be non-weight-related reasons why the craft was unable to complete a climb to cruising altitude at that time, such as local weather conditions or minor instrumentation problems.

 

[Count Iblis]

The plane is communicating via short wave. It is somewhere on the Atlantic, out of VHF range.

 

[negitron]

Ah, you said "right after takeoff" so I assumed the craft was still in VHF range.

 

[Count Iblis]

Ah, you said "right after takeoff" so I assumed the craft was still in VHF range.

http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightStatus/flightStatusByFlight.do?id=164886752&utm_source=airlineInformationAndStatus&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=co-op"

So, it was quite some time after takeoff. I'm not sure about the route it takes. It seems that the flight will go North for a while flying over the Caribbean before crossing the Atlantic on its way to Europe.

 

[TooFastTim]

The bit that amazes me about this question most is that Al Italia are stil flying and not being bought out by a rival airline.

 

[Ophiolite]

The bit that amazes me about this question most is that Al Italia are stil flying and not being bought out by a rival airline.

Who would want to buy a very large debt an overstaffed company and a fleet of old aircraft?

 

[TooFastTim]

Who would want to buy a very large debt an overstaffed company and a fleet of old aircraft?

True dat!