UAL 26 26 Jan

[Airbanda]

Left BHX for EWR broadly on time but turned back over Buckinghamshire. After brief hold SW of field it landed back at BHX. Now showing as cancelled.

Tech problem?

[Airclues]

turned back over Buckinghamshire

Sounds like a problem with the navigation equipment if he was flying over Buckinghamshire en-route from BHX to EWR.

[Airbanda]

Sounds like a problem with the navigation equipment if he was flying over Buckinghamshire en-route from BHX to EWR

It departed from 33 and turned S on what might have been a COWLI or CPT SID. Whether it was heading towards Bristol Channel and track similar to that now being followed by UAL16 or was being vectored while crew analysed a problem I don't know.

Now found local press report referring to an unspecified 'technical issue'. While not making connection report also mentions extreme weather being forecast for eastern US.

[pax britanica]

with extreme snow conditions forecast forecast for the US east Coast even a minor problem for a range limited 757 -assuming that is what it was - would make turning back a pretty prudent thing to do. When those storms hit they often wipe out everything between Washington and Boston so that doesn't leave many options for an alternate.

[Hotel Tango]

I would have thought that they would keep tabs of the destination weather as they made their way across the Atlantic. Nothing would prevent them diverting en route to Montreal or Toronto for instance. Nevertheless, I just heard that KLM cancelled two of their Amsterdam - New York flights today.

[Guest 112233]

To all those "Spotters" out there, the Aircraft had the structural integrity (tolerance of design scope) to embark on a 3000NM flight, allow the crew to monitor the WX at their destination and within say 30 minutes, decide to come back to the point of departure and deposit the passengers and crew for another go.

The Boeing 757 design has provided UA with an as yet unprecedented degree of operational flexibility [Edit:for its time] that will be missed when the design is superseded by lighter and in their way better airframes.

It starts to look like the 757 with its unique combination of installed power/structural integrity (as a result of the technology of its time) and fuel carrying capacity makes it a DC3 of its time. (Perhaps the 767 too ?)

CAT III