Icelandic air accident investigators have concluded a probe into a low-fuel incident which saw an Icelandair Boeing 757-200 land on a closed runway at Keflavik Airport.
The incident occurred on October 27, 2019, and involved TF-ISF (c/n 24595), operating flight 680 inbound from Seattle/Tacoma. While on approach to Keflavik, a BAe 125 business jet landing ahead of it suffered a runway excursion forcing the closure of runway 01, effectively shutting the airport to landings as runway 10/28 was not useable because its condition had not been maintained overnight.
Icelandair flight 680 was then directed to take up the hold at 6000ft over waypoint SOPAR at 0606hrs. The captain – who was pilot flying (PF) – noted to the first officer (FO) that they did not have much fuel for holding. About five minutes after entering the hold, the crew contacted air traffic control (ATC) and requested the latest braking action at Reykjavik, which was their filed alternate airport. Keflavik Approach replied that it would take half an hour to get the braking action measurements at the gateway.
“Unknown to the controller in Keflavik Approach, Reykjavik Airport was already being prepared for opening and runway brake measurement had already been performed …
