Michael 111, Atlantic 75
I'm not an airline pilot, but I do fly light aircraft and have experience of flying some equipped with weather radar, so hope this might help you to understand what 'might' have caused the flight to make an airborne return.
I don't know the minimum equipment list for this type of aircraft and airline, but it would not surprise me if the weather (Wx) radar failed as another poster said and it mandated a return to the point of departure.
Alternatively, the captain may have decided that he did not feel able to fly in the weather conditions prevailing without the radar - airline captains are generally very good at making sensible decisions balancing safety and getting us pax to the destination on time.
If there were thunderstorms about, flying in clouds without Wx radar is 'bold' behaviour and we all know that 'there are old pilots and bold pilots, but few old and bold....'
To try to answer the question to why the met forecast cannot be used to avoid weather en route....
1) The weather moves all the time :-)
2) A forecast is not actuality, so you can't be sure - think of your own experiences when the forecast doesn't quite give the expected results!
3) When you are flying in one type of cloud, you cannot see another type. This is particularly concerning if you are flying in a layer of cloud (without severe icing, turbulence or lightning), but are concerned that dangerous clouds (thunderstorms) may be in the area and could be mixed in with the harmless clouds - pilots call this 'embedded CBs.'
So you need the weather radar to show you where the heavy precipitation (rain, snow, hail etc) is, so that you can steer around it and avoid the associated dangers that come with some types of clouds, even though your are 'flying blind.'
Last edited by Final 3 Greens; 8th Jul 2003 at 18:53.