Narrative:

Aircraft Y was on visual approach to runway 33 coming from the south. They checked on and were cleared to land. Aircraft X was on visual approach to the airport to follow aircraft Y. As aircraft Y was coming in to the airport; it became apparent that they were not lining up for runway 33 as they got closer to the airport. It appeared they were heading to the west side of the field for a close-in right base to runway 8. The local controller then queried them and they said that they'd lost sight of the airport. (Visibility was 10/skc so we did not expect this to happen.)we cannot vector IFR aircraft due to the fact that we do not have a diverse vectoring area (dva); so all the local controller could do was tell them to start a climb to 4;000 feet and call out where the airport was. Over the airport they called the airport in sight and asked if they could re-join a right downwind for runway 33; which was approved. Aircraft X was turning about a 4 mile final at this time and as aircraft Y continued on the downwind; she appeared to be turning right into aircraft X's way and pinching in on the downwind; possibly due to strong winds. I was controller in charge and I told the local controller to cancel aircraft X's approach clearance and start him climbing immediately; which local control did; but again we can't vector IFR aircraft here; so the local controller could only tell aircraft X to continue inbound toward the airport and couldn't turn him away from aircraft Y. The targets nearly merged at the same altitude. We had both aircraft in sight. We need a dva at bur.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: BUR Tower Controller reported an aircraft from the west was cleared for a visual approach to Runway 33 while a second aircraft was cleared straight in to Runway 33. When the tower sighted the aircraft from the west the aircraft appeared to be entering a base leg for Runway 8. The Local Controller asked the pilot to clarify their intention and the pilot advised they no longer had the airport in sight. The Controller climbed the aircraft to 4;000 feet.

Narrative: Aircraft Y was on Visual Approach to Runway 33 coming from the south. They checked on and were cleared to land. Aircraft X was on visual approach to the airport to follow aircraft Y. As aircraft Y was coming in to the airport; it became apparent that they were not lining up for Runway 33 as they got closer to the airport. It appeared they were heading to the west side of the field for a close-in right base to Runway 8. The Local Controller then queried them and they said that they'd lost sight of the airport. (Visibility was 10/SKC so we did not expect this to happen.)We cannot vector IFR aircraft due to the fact that we do not have a Diverse Vectoring Area (DVA); so all the Local Controller could do was tell them to start a climb to 4;000 feet and call out where the airport was. Over the airport they called the airport in sight and asked if they could re-join a right downwind for Runway 33; which was approved. Aircraft X was turning about a 4 mile final at this time and as aircraft Y continued on the downwind; she appeared to be turning right into aircraft X's way and pinching in on the downwind; possibly due to strong winds. I was Controller in Charge and I told the Local Controller to cancel aircraft X's approach clearance and start him climbing immediately; which Local Control did; but again we can't vector IFR aircraft here; so the Local Controller could only tell aircraft X to continue inbound toward the airport and couldn't turn him away from aircraft Y. The targets nearly merged at the same altitude. We had both aircraft in sight. We need a DVA at BUR.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.