BA198 BOM-LHR Fri29Oct - unusual delay?

[CherokeeDriver]

I am a PPL/CPL so thought about posting on another section. However as I was Pax on this flight I thought this was the best option. Apologies to Mods is this does need moving.

Pushback was about 20 mins behind schedule. Taxied and aligned to departure runway. AirCon packs switched off. Departure was then aborted BEFORE the t/o roll commenced because we were at MTOW, and the wind was gusty coming directly from BEHIND us. It must have also been 30+degrees C outside.

Delay of over an hour whilst r/w270 was made available, which entailed stopping all incoming into BOM who were using 090.

My question is; why push back in the first place? Was this an unusual delay or poor departure planning?

The 777-2 serving the flight last night was really showing its' age - very tatty and worn when compared with the new 777-3 that took me to BOM!

[Juan Tugoh]

The reported wind on the ATIS and ground frequency can be very different from the actual wind passed by the tower with the actual take-off clearance. If the take-off was planned at a limiting weight this can then make the departure outside the limits. This could similarly happen with an absolute tail wind limit for departure. The tailwind limit for take-off may be 10knots but the actual tail wind experienced at the departure point may have exceeded this.

There is another possibility, the Captain may have looked at the weather and decided that the weather was not acceptable despite what the tower was reporting and declaring that they would not take runway x for departure and wanted the into wind runway. This can happen when environmental issues force an airport to favour a runway that is less than optimal.

[CherokeeDriver]

Thanks Juan. I've never got a type rating on "heavy metal" so was unfamilar about the different factors that may have come into play.

Well done the skipper btw who left the pointy end and walked the length of the plane to explain what was happening and answer questions.