Yesterday at SYD we were behind China Eastern which had taxied all the way out to the end of 34L only to taxi all the way back to the terminal. Anyone know what happened? I guess it happens from time to time, maybe a indicator showing a fault??

I was on an AC flight, YYZ-ORD in august that did exactly that.

The reason? Well for us, it was because the number of passengers in the plane != the number of passengers on the manifest. How they let us get all the way to the runway without realising this, I have no idea..

Reminds me of the first RTO ever - a most bizarre tale in itself.

It was the first flight of the millenium - 1/1/2000 (remember all the fuss about the Y2K bug?) Anyway, we boarded at HBA on time (6-7am, can't remember now), taxied out, started the takeoff roll, then suddenly braked and decelerated. Captain advised crew this was not an emergency, and that we were returning to the terminal. It turns out that during the layover, some birds (?sparrows) had got into the cabin. Most had been evacuated, except for one which had surfaced from within the depths of the control panels during the takeoff run. We had a long delay during which the offending creature had to be hunted down, there was even talk of flying an engineer down from MEL to remove panels etc. Eventually all sorted out and we departed uneventfully, albeit much later.

So it wasn't the millenium bug but the millenium sparrow...

Hmmm maybe it wanted to fly the easy way

Apparently the pilot reported a problem with the nose wheel to the tower. There were actually failed attempts to get off the ground. The second being as they tried to turn onto 34L and they eventually made it onto the runway and taxied down the wide black stuff and back to the terminal.

Eventually an uneventful takeoff about 3pm. So not sure if you saw the first or second scenic view of Sydney airport for the China Eastern flight 562.

Both I think. I did notice it was sitting at the taxiway exit onto runway a long time (as we headed up the taxiway). Then it rolled (very slowly) down the runway to the second exit before moving back to the taxiway. Fortunately no other a/c trying to go up the taxiway at that time.

PS I just knew an FTer would know the story!!

Well, I did have to go looking for the answer. Its amazing what you can fine on the 'net these days .

Well thanks. Guess I shouldnt be so lazy

No problem. I enjoy the challenge of finding the info! Part of the trick is knowing where and how to look for it - and then knowing how much to trust the source (eg, if posted on Airliners.Net, then don't trust it ).

Which makes me wonder how much you trust me as a source? On second thoughts - dont answer

I will answer that . I have a healthy respect for your posts and always look forward to your input. Its good to have a few *A people to keep us honest around here . And if you had not asked this particular question, none of us (me included) would have known anything about it! Some may suggest they didn't need to know anything about it, but that is their problem, not our .

^

Oh no I dont have any problems - NOT