Originally Posted by
tdracer
Which way was the wind blowing (during the day it's nearly always out of the west around there)? Sure, the Pacific is just off the west end of the runway, but if landing well above max landing weight I sure wouldn't want a tail wind component while landing.
There is a cert requirement called 'Return to Land' - basically it says it needs to be possible to turn around and land at the departure airport - even at Max TOW - almost immediately after takeoff is there is a major emergency (uncontrollable engine fire being the classic example). BUT, to successfully perform a MTOW Return to Land, you want everything going your way - pilots on their 'A' game, good weather and runway conditions, etc.
who is talking about landing with a tailwind east? not me. again I stick to the point, you have two options I see... stay west of the airport by just a few miles and dump over the ocean because you’ve secured an engine that was just experiencing a simple compressor stall (which was the plan ATC was clearly expecting from the crew as it is not uncommon out of LAX in these situations) OR if the PIC wants to land right away you do what they did which is enter a normal pattern to land on the same west bound direction they took off from overweight, but don’t dump on the kiddies. It was good VFR and landing overweight with a secured engine doesn’t require special A game ability as you put it... I’ve done it personally and it’s just another landing, just with a write up and inspection at the end of it.