On Dec 31st, 2009 at 11:41 PST West Jet flight 1862 (B737-800) departed Vancouver (CYVR) for Honolulu (PHNL). A nearby Air Canada flight crew spotted tire debris on the runway following the West Jet departure. Runway 08R was immediately closed causing at least one aircraft on final to pull up. About 90 minutes out over the Pacific, 1862 turned back to Vancouver, arriving uneventfully just after 16:00 PST. It came to a full stop on runway 08R where it was inspected before being allowed to taxi to the gate.
This is my first effort at editing and posting an ATC clip, so for my own learning I tried to capture what I could find gate-to-gate related to this incident in the YVR archives from Dec 31 1900Z to Jan 1 0030Z. It's not nearly as dramatic as some of the other clips posted to this forum but hey, it is my first attempt.
What I found particularly interesting was the pull up of the aircraft on final when the tire debris was reported. I was also intrigued by the on-scene presence of Rescue 901, which I believe is the call sign for a Canadian Air Force CH-149 Cormorant helicopter from 442 Squadron 19 Wing out of Comox, BC. I guess they do a standby because of the possibility of water rescue.
There are a few things I'm wondering about. Why so long for 1862 to turn back? Were they on the line with Company trying to figure out what to do, or just burning off fuel? I note two holding patterns on the FlightAware track. Were these done to burn off/dump fuel or just a standard part of ATC arrival sequencing? The pilot does reference the amount of fuel on board in one of his transmissions.
David
Media Report
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5g1gDvrd8dL8sN6QGF6ricA6qXykwFlightAware Track
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/WJA1862/history/20091231/1813Z/CYVR/CYVRCall sign Rescue 901, 442 Squadron 19 Wing Comox
http://www.airforce.dnd.ca/19w-19e/nr-sp/index-eng.asp?id=5147