Lufthansa Airbus A380 Docu: The Double-Decker Lady Pilots - from Frankfurt to Singapore (whole film)

Video from the channel PlaneMania about Airbus A380, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 42:15. Language: German. Video type: Onboard.

The documentary follows Lufthansa flight LH778 between Frankfurt and Singapore on an Airbus A380 from start to finish: about 11 hours and 40 minutes to cover nearly 10,300 kilometers. In the cockpit are First Officer Antje Schäper, who flies the aircraft, Senior First Officer Stefanie Bub, and Captain Joachim Schwarzenberg. In addition, 21 cabin crew attend to almost 500 passengers.

In the preflight briefing, the crew sets 174 tons of fuel, with an extra half-hour margin for unstable weather, and loads the data in a paperless cockpit. During the exterior inspection, the captain checks the 5,000 psi hydraulic lines, brake wear through its wear indicator, and the inlets and blades of the four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines, each with 70,000 pounds of thrust. He then signs off on accepting the aircraft in the technical log. The crew also adjusts the cargo hold temperature to carry some tropical fish. The aircraft takes off at about 522 tons from runway 18 at Frankfurt, with a V1 of 143 knots.

During the flight, several scenes are shown: the aircraft crosses the wake of other traffic near the Austrian border, climbs from 35,000 to 37,000 feet before entering Afghanistan, and passes clear views of the Himalayas, with K2, Nanga Parbat, and Everest. Over Myanmar, the crew announces its position on an air-to-air frequency. In the passenger cabin there is caviar in first class, an Oktoberfest menu in a business class full with 78 seats, and bunks for crew rest below the main deck. For arrival, the Brake to Vacate (BTV) function is programmed, which adjusts braking to the chosen runway exit. The expected landing weight is 373 tons. After a holding pattern due to heavy traffic, the aircraft lands in Singapore.

Lufthansa has had women pilots since 1988. According to the video, today they make up 7% of its pilots and 15% of trainees. Stefanie Bub, a pilot for 17 years, makes one of her last flights on the A380 before training as an A320 captain. After about 14 hours of duty, the crew rests for a day and a half before returning to Frankfurt.