Lufthansa 747 Declares Mayday, Diverts Twice On Marathon Journey To South America
ID 331015275 © Boarding1now | Dreamstime.com
Lufthansa’s longest flight turned into an extraordinary 20-hour odyssey across South America earlier this week, as one of the airline’s Boeing 747-8s was forced to divert twice, declare a mayday, and ultimately cancel the flight due to fuel concerns and crew fatigue.
Flight LH510: Frankfurt to Buenos Aires (via… Paraguay and Brazil)
Flight LH510, operating from Frankfurt (FRA) to Buenos Aires (EZE) on Monday, July 7, is typically a 13-hour flight covering 7,133 miles—the longest scheduled service in Lufthansa’s network. This time, however, the journey turned into something quite different.
The flight was operated by a Boeing 747-8, registration D-ABYM, and took off from Frankfurt at 10:28PM local time, just under an hour behind schedule. Trouble began near the destination, where poor weather and low visibility at Buenos Aires prevented a safe landing. The crew held the aircraft in a holding pattern at 7,000 feet, hoping conditions would improve. They didn’t.
First Diversion: Asuncion, Paraguay
With Buenos Aires still socked in by weather, the crew opted to divert to Asuncion (ASU)—a 663-mile reroute. The aircraft touched down safely in Paraguay at 8:00AM, after 14 hours and 32 minutes in the air. The stop was brief. After less than an hour on the ground, the aircraft was refueled and took off again at 8:56AM, bound once more for Buenos Aires.
Second Diversion: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Unfortunately, conditions at EZE still hadn’t improved. After another holding pattern and an unsuccessful approach, the flight was diverted a second time—this time much further, to São Paulo (GRU), a 1,069-mile leg. The likely reason? The crew had timed out, and São Paulo offered more robust support for Lufthansa passengers and operations.
The aircraft landed at GRU at 1:04PM, with passengers now having been onboard for nearly 20 hours. The flight was officially canceled and passengers were rebooked on alternate flights.
The 747 remains parked in São Paulo at the time of writing. It’s unclear whether it will ferry back to Frankfurt or continue to Buenos Aires for a repositioning flight.
Unusual Mayday Call on Final Approach
One of the more surprising elements in this saga came during the aircraft’s final descent into São Paulo. The pilots declared a mayday, citing crew fatigue and low fuel. The exchange was captured in ATC audio and confirmed by aircraft spotters on the ground.
Mayday calls are rare and only made when a situation is life-threatening or critical. In this case, the pilots reportedly told controllers they were experiencing “crew fatigue and fuel shortage.” That raises a couple of interesting questions:
-
Is fatigue a valid reason for a mayday? While fatigue is certainly dangerous, it’s unusual to hear it cited as a primary reason for a mayday transmission.
-
Was fuel truly at minimum levels? The 747 had already diverted once and burned considerable fuel. One would assume the plane was tanker-loaded in Frankfurt given the forecast, but between holding patterns and rerouting, reserves may have run low.
The aircraft was met by emergency vehicles, including four fire trucks, as is standard protocol during a mayday situation—even if the nature of the emergency doesn’t require direct firefighting support.
Bottom Line
A Lufthansa 747-8 operating the airline’s flagship Frankfurt–Buenos Aires route diverted twice due to weather, eventually landing in São Paulo after a grueling 20-hour journey. The crew declared a mayday citing crew fatigue and fuel shortage, and the flight was ultimately canceled. Passengers were re-accommodated on other flights, and the aircraft remains in Brazil. A highly unusual and complex scenario for what’s normally a straightforward ultra-long-haul service.
