After a two and a half hour ground delay due to thunderstorms; a B757-200 returned to the gate. They...

Narrative:

Our flight exceeded the three hour tarmac delay limit. Due to thunderstorms in the area; we taxied to a remote pad and shut down our engines. I notified dispatch and operations of our situation at two hours after door closure. We distributed food from our extended delay kit and water to our passengers at this time. Two and a half hours after the door was closed we requested to return to a gate. We were at our assigned gate in a timely fashion; but could not park because the ramp was closed due to lightning. We finally blocked in at the gate three hours and 22 minutes after departing.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: After a two and a half hour ground delay due to thunderstorms; a B757-200 returned to the gate. They were unable to park at the gate until three hours and 22 minutes after departing; thus exceeding the Federally mandated limit on tarmac delays.

Narrative: Our flight exceeded the three hour tarmac delay limit. Due to thunderstorms in the area; we taxied to a remote pad and shut down our engines. I notified Dispatch and Operations of our situation at two hours after door closure. We distributed food from our extended delay kit and water to our passengers at this time. Two and a half hours after the door was closed we requested to return to a gate. We were at our assigned gate in a timely fashion; but could not park because the ramp was closed due to lightning. We finally blocked in at the gate three hours and 22 minutes after departing.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	955151
Time
Date	201106
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	IAD.Airport
State Reference	DC
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 190 Flight Crew Total 10000 Flight Crew Type 5000

After a two and a half hour ground delay due to thunderstorms; a B757-200 returned to the gate. They were unable to park at the gate until three hours and 22 minutes after departing; thus exceeding the federally mandated limit on tarmac delays.