B737-700
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 373; Flight Crew Type 5000
Confusion; Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Executed Go Around / Missed Approach; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Airport; Human Factors; Procedure; Weather
Visual approach to Runway 08. Tower reported tailwind gusting to 17 knots and offered us circle to land 15 or 33. We did not have performance calculations for Runway 08 with tailwind or Runway 15 or 33. Captain as PF decided to go-around. On go-around climb leveled at 4;000 feet MSL. On go-around we expected to be handed off to SoCal Approach. Tower only offered us VFR traffic pattern to our runway of choice. At that point winds favored 15. We flew VFR pattern to 15. On short final; we received 'sink rate; pull up' GPWS warning. Flew another VFR pattern to 08. Landed uneventfully. It would have been helpful for the Tower Controller to give us an altitude and heading on go-around or hand us off to SoCal Approach. Simply clearing us into the VFR pattern at an airport that is unfamiliar to us was unexpected. During missed approach climbed above Class D airspace while with Tower Controller.
On short final Runway 08 in BUR; the Tower advised us of a wind condition change with a gusty tailwind component. We were offered Runway 15 below 1;000 feet AGL and elected to go-around. Missed approach altitude was set to 4;000 feet and I was expecting to return to Approach Control but instead we were cleared for right traffic Runway 15. The workload increased immediately being on our own to determine altitude and heading in the middle of a go-around in high terrain environment and in proximity of LAX Class B. We leveled off at 4;000 feet as planned but above the normal traffic pattern altitude. On short final for 15; the tailwind component was making the stabilized approach impossible and a go-around was also required. The same VFR traffic pattern clearance was issued for Runway 08 even after our request for heading and altitude. We landed on Runway 08 and the controller thanked us for our help.The requirement for approach briefing; performance briefing; and complicated maneuvers such as a go-around in a VFR environment should be known by ATC and treated differently than a C-152 doing touch and goes. Safety comes first and a minimum guidance from ATC is expected. I will keep in mind the implications of accepting a visual clearance in BUR.
B737 flight crew reports two go arounds at BUR due to tail winds and wind shear. On the first go around the crew is surprised to be cleared by the Tower to enter the VFR pattern for the runway of their choice. The crew had climbed to 4;000 feet expecting to be switched to Socal for vectors.