Airliner World — September 2017

46 AIRLINER WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017

not feature an automated vertical

navigation (VNAV) system, meaning

pilots must instead revert to tried-and-

tested, old-school methods to calculate

the required vertical profile. The

arithmetic is, fortunately, relatively

straight forward. Expecting to arrive

on Runway 30 via the TRS6Y standard

arrival routing (STAR), the accompa-

nying chart shows the aircraft must

overfly the initial approach fix, in our

case the Trosa (TRS) VOR, at FL110.

With 22,000ft of altitude to lose and

flying at a constant speed of 270kts,

the two pilots arrive at the same

conclusion – the top of descent point

will be 66nm (122km) from TRS.

We pick up the latest weather

information via Bromma’s automat-

ic terminal information service (ATIS).

This confirms what we can already

see out of the cockpit windows – it’s a

beautiful day with excellent visibility

and light variable wind with the tem-

perature hovering at around 15°C (59°F).

Stockholm Approach confirms the

arrival procedure and clears us for

a continuous descent, high-speed

approach – this means Sanczuk can

maintain 250kts until intercepting

the ILS.

Descending through FL100, the

captain switches on the taxi lights and,

shortly afterwards, we’re contacted

again by ATC: “Beeline 2305, descend to

2,500ft QNH 1026 [local pressure setting

for the altimeter], report established on

the ILS Runway Three Zero.”

Closing in on Bromma, we initially

pick up the localiser, which provides lat-

eral guidance to the runway threshold,

and then the vertical glideslope.

Notably, the approach path to the city

centre airport is 3.5°, marginally steeper

than the 3° at most facilities (including

Brussels) but decidedly less than the

5 .5° at London City. As such, there’s

no discernible difference in technique

as Sanczuk guides OO-DWB down

towards the 5,472ft long, 148ft wide

(1,668 x 45m) runway.

The final approach is spectacular as

we cross downtown Stockholm, but the

crew has little time to enjoy the view. It

is, however, evident that Sanczuk is not

a first-time visitor to Bromma, touching

down smoothly near the threshold and

then quickly applying the brakes to slow

the Avro down to taxiing speed. We

vacate the runway and pull on to the

adjacent stand 5 before shutting down

the aircraft 1hr 59mins after off-block

time in Brussels.

ABOVE AND TOP • The
approach to Bromma
offers stunning views of
downtown Stockholm.

ABOVE RIGHT • Bromma’s
5,472ft-long runway
and 3.5° approach
path present unusual
challenges for crews
arriving at Stockholm’s
second airport.