Originally Posted by
mspdoc
This happened to me one time while flying from ATL to TPA, probably about 15 years ago. That one was weather related. We took off from ATL and got close enough to see the Clearwater area but a line of thunderstorms was quickly approaching and we were unable to get in before they arrived. We circled briefly and then it was announced we would divert to JAX. Before long we were updated that we would be better accommodated in ATL, so back we went. We sat for a few hours and finally were able to get in late that night.
From a fuel standpoint, aircraft operating under instrument flight rules are required to have enough fuel to reach their alternate airport plus an additional 45 minutes. For a short flight that can easily bring you back to your origin.
I had a similar one on US Airways about 10 years ago. LGA-DCA; we actually were on final approach to DCA but aborted landing because something about due to fog they couldn't see the runway within a critical range or something like that, and then we ended up flying back to LGA because there were various connections on board that US decided they could accommodate more easily than diverting to IAD or BWI and letting us off there. Which of course was quite annoying for those of us onboard who were terminating at DCA.