A319 flight crew reported an air turn back and precautionary landing caused by Yellow System hydraulic problems.
Synopsis
A319 flight crew reported an air turn back and precautionary landing caused by Yellow System hydraulic problems.
Narrative
On departure from ZZZ; climbing through 17;000 ft. with the autopilot on we received an amber ECAM message stating Y Hydraulic SYS OVHT. We noticed the yellow system showed OVHT in amber and the fluid quantity was at the maximum displayed level. I notified ATC at that time that we were dealing with a hydraulic issue and would be returning to ZZZ. I asked for delay vectors which ATC provided me. I continued to fly while my First Officer complied with the ECAM actions; which we both confirmed. ECAM directed us to shut down the Yellow hydraulic pump and the PTU; which we did. My First Officer then went into the QRH for extra malfunction information and to compute our required landing distance. While doing this I notified the Flight Attendants with a quick update on what was happening and that I would get back to them with the full Brief; and I made a PA announcement to the passengers. I then notified Dispatch and Maintenance over ACARS of our malfunction and our intent to return to ZZZ. I also notified Maintenance over the ZZZ Company maintenance frequency to inform them of our return. We got delay vectors while we performed all these actions. Dispatch sent us landing data and agreed with our intent to return to ZZZ. I then formally requested priority handling with ATC and gave souls on board and fuel and our desire to land on Runway XXR since it was the longest runway available and we had lost some spoiler panels and an engine reverser due to the hydraulic system failure. I also asked for the fire trucks to be present in case of any hydraulic fluid leakage or further incident on landing. I then called the flight attendants back and gave the full brief. The flight attendants were calm; cool and collected during this entire situation and performed remarkably. All emergency action items and briefs were complied with and my First Officer and I agreed with our plan to land back at ZZZ. We both discussed the situation and tried to brainstorm if there was anything that we were missing and there was not. We discussed that the ECAM stated if the overheat indication went away we could renegade the yellow hydraulic system. We discussed that if the overheat went away we would reengage the yellow system at 1;000 ft. AGL for the landing. At approximately 12;000 ft. on the descent the overheat indication went out; yet the fluid system level was still at the maximum level. We planned for a longer final approach since our flaps and slats were operating slower than normal. At 1;000 ft. AGL we reengaged the yellow system; as per the ECAM; since the overheat condition no longer existed. I landed the aircraft uneventfully back into ZZZ on Runway XXR with 16;000 ft. available. We were able to clear the runway uneventfully and did not notice any further yellow system hydraulic overheat. We did notice on taxi in that the yellow hydraulic system fluid level was jumping rapidly from the maximum allowed level to the normal fill line; and back and forth. Once at the gate we spoke with Maintenance and informed them of what we had seen and experienced. They then decided to take the airplane to the hangar for more maintenance troubleshooting. I spoke with the passengers on deplaning and everyone seemed in good spirits. I spoke with company personnel and the Chief Pilot. I advised the Chief Pilot that myself and the First Officer were no longer fit to fly and she had scheduling book us on a deadhead back to base. The Chief Pilot a did an excellent job; was very pleasant and helpful and took care of us very well. I was very impressed. My First Officer and I conducted a facilitated debrief and felt that we performed well during this emergency and did everything we could do to ensure a positive outcome. I also spoke with the flight attendants afterwards along with their Supervisor and let them know I appreciated all they did and that they did a good job. I feel everyone performed excellently during this emergency and did everything we could to make it as benign as possible.
Second reporter narrative
On departure from ZZZ; climbing through 17;000 ft. with the autopilot on we received an amber ECAM message stating Y Hydraulic SYS OVHT. We noticed the yellow system showed OVHT in amber and the fluid quantity was at the maximum displayed level. We complied with the ECAM actions and shut down the yellow hydraulic pump and PTU. We also referenced the QRH for landing data and extra malfunction information; a brief was given to the flight attendants; we notified ATC and requested priority handling with the intent to land back into ZZZ. We notified Dispatch and Maintenance over ACARS. I also notified Maintenance over the ZZZ Company maintenance frequency to inform them of our return. We got delay vectors while we performed all these actions. The passengers were briefed as well. All emergency action items were complied with and we landed uneventfully back into ZZZ on Runway XXR with 16;000 ft. available. I did have the fire trucks standing by in case of a further emergency with possible hydraulic fluid leakage; of which there was none. We spoke with Maintenance on the ground and they took the airplane to the hangar for more maintenance troubleshooting.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.