Copilot23

Just wondering if anyone can tell me what actually happened. Yesterday on a flight from PHX to PVR our plane took an unintended detour over our destination. In flight the pilot told us we would arrive about a half hour early due to favorable tailwinds. I then later watched as we flew over Puerto Vallarta then ascended upward again over the mountains on the south side of the bay. We then flew out over the Pacific which we had never done before. And did this for about 15 minutes. Then banked and headed back to land. The pilot came on and apologized saying there was some issue with positioning programming and the flight over the water was to correct that situation. But because of that he said to expect our landing to be "faster than normal." He the said "flight attendants prepare for a precautionary landing." Passengers just looked at each wondering what the heck that meant. We then descended and did a number of 45 - 90 degree or so banks both left and right. About 7 minutes later we touched down and thrusters were louder than normal and braking was harder as I felt us move forward against the seat belts. Outside the window I saw fire trucks with lights flashing beside the runway. We did use the entire length of the runway to stop but it was a smooth landing and stop. As we turned back toward the airport the emergency vehicles were heading back to the airport. I saw on Flightaware the return flight to PHX had been cancelled. I realize flying commercially is the safest mode of transportation. But I am curious as to what the possible scenarios were.

phlwookie

That sounds like a flaps issue or similar - if they cannot be fully extracted into landing position then the result is usually a faster than normal landing with more aggressive braking, which can result in hot brakes that might need to be cooled. It's not usually an emergency situation but can become one if the only runways available are on the shorter side, requiring even harder braking and resulting in more heat, which can cause tire deflation (by design so the tires don't explode) or in a worst case scenario, a gear fire. That's why you have the trucks nearby - they have IR equipment that can see how hot the brakes are, and can cool them with water or foam if needed.

It sounds like the crew performed a properly executed overspeed landing, and the overwater portion was likely either troubleshooting with maintenance on the radio and/or working the checklists to prepare for the overspeed landing in a normal holding area for the airport. Your aircraft, N765US, has not yet left PVR as of this writing (http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N765US).

Dont call me Shirley

45 to 90 degree bank on a commercial airliner? I am sure the event was unsettling, but I seriously doubt the aerobatics.

Copilot23

Okay my bad, I realize bank and turns might not be as interchangeable as I intended. I should have said turns. Thanks for the feedback PHL.