Larryboy ; no assumptions really. This is the "rumours" forum and speculative debate is the norm & often, quite interesting.
FLCH ; Thanks. 2200 metres is roughly 6600ft which makes the 7700 ft available out of limits for the "speculative" double hydo failure. Why they decided to turn back to a shortish dep airfield will be interesting.
Starbear ; Mate of mine had the exact same situation you describe coming out of a European airfield. Very experienced Skipper decided not to declare urgency. He felt no -one would really understand in that part of the world. ("Pan Pan Pan"......yeah, right ) L & R out, over max Landing weight he calmly went to a nice much longer runway, nearby, full facilties, configured for the approach in the hold and did a nice job. Got overheated brakes though but Firefighters were on him in a remote area with hoses pointed at the brakes as all disembarked. Mate tells me that the afterparty was the stuff of legend..