A B767-300 First Officer reported the EICAS alerted R HYD QTY followed by R HYD SYS PRESS; so they returned to the departure airport. A Flight Attendant reported passenger discomfort during the emergency because of turbulence.
Synopsis
A B767-300 First Officer reported the EICAS alerted R HYD QTY followed by R HYD SYS PRESS; so they returned to the departure airport. A Flight Attendant reported passenger discomfort during the emergency because of turbulence.
Narrative
Flight was very turbulent. After the initial beverage service; the Purser came to the back and announced we had a problem with the hydraulics and needed to dump fuel. He said prepare for a hard landing. We picked up in between turbulence; in fact it was so bad that one of the liquor carts fell on its side in the coach galley. At one point he called and said we had 2 minutes prior to severe turbulence so I checked seat belts; collected any glasses; and made sure all loose bags were secure. We were in the aisle when there was not turbulence; talking and offering comfort as needed. Most of the inquiries were related to when they could return to the states and their connections out of our destination. The pilots told the problem that we had [was] with one of our systems that had 2 back ups to it; but due to this we needed to return to the departure airport. He said it would be turbulent as we needed to go back through the weather system we had just gone through to return and we needed to dump fuel before landing. We went back; but were too heavy to land so we circled above the airport with the landing gear down to burn more fuel. We landed without incident. Fire trucks were there just in case we needed them. After landing we discovered a thrust reverser was inoperative as well. Passengers were taken to a hotel and offered breakfast and lunch vouchers and a return to the airport for the next day. We left the next day after a hail and lightning storm delaying our fueling without incident. This flight was very turbulent as well. We landed a day late but safe.
Second reporter narrative
On our initial climb; we had an EICAS message indicating R HYD QTY as we were passing through approximately 15;000 FT. I was flying the aircraft on autopilot and using heading to deviate through a large thunderstorm area. We selected the status page and the R HYD QTY indicated 0.00RF. The Relief Pilot referenced the QRH for R HYD QTY and read the checklist as the Captain accomplished the actions. My full attention was on deviating through the thunderstorm area and I listened as the checklist was accomplished. There was a little confusion with the checklist and I recall the Captain stating we shouldn't leave the right electric pump on with the pressure light illuminated. I agreed with this statement and I did see an additional EICAS message R HYD SYS PRESS. We talked to Dispatch and Maintenance and then discussed our options. After a thorough discussion we decided that we should return to the departure airport. We did not declare an emergency and did not ask for priority handling as we requested a return from ATC. After receiving a left turn direct the airport and we also informed them we needed to dump fuel. The Controller did not understand our request and after numerous attempts another aircraft relayed our request in his native language. After clearance we initiated the fuel dump clear of the thunderstorms. We prepared for our return and knew we would hold over an hour to burn down below our max landing weight. I briefed the approach and said I would use max reverse on the left thrust reverser until about 80 KTS or until I had 3;000 FT of runway left before I would initiate brake application to prevent hot brakes. At that time it crossed my mind that it wouldn't hurt to have the fire equipment standing by just in case we have a brake fire due to fluid loss from a brake line and possibly hydraulic fluid on the brakes. I remember we commenced the approach at 319.0 LBS for the ILS. I hand flew the approach from about 10 miles and the landing was smooth and about 1;500 FT down the runway. I used maximum reverse on the left reverser (right reverser inoperative). We rolled out and I lightly applied the brakes at 3;000 FT remaining at about 90 KTS. We cleared the runway and were inspected by the fire equipment. During the inspection I looked at the brake temperatures and the hottest reading was a 2. After the inspection we were cleared to taxi to the gate.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.