GlobalX Pilots Struggle To Land Airbus A320 In Phoenix… But Why?!

I often share air traffic control clips of interesting interactions between pilots and air traffic controllers. Well, here’s one that I’m not sure what to make of, because the circumstances are so strange.

GlobalX Airbus A320 unable to land in Phoenix, twice

The excellent VASAviation YouTube channel has uploaded air traffic control audio and a visualization of what happened on the evening of Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA). It centers around GlobalX flight G66136, which was arriving from San Diego (SAN). The flight was operated by a 17-year-old Airbus A320 with the registration code N630VA.

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First for some context, GlobalX is a charter airline based in Miami, which was founded in 2018 (at least in its current form). The airline operates a fleet of nearly 20 jets, and it does a lot of contract work for the government, including military charters and even deportation flights. Heck, GlobalX planes were featured in Trump’s cinematic, promotional video about recent deportations.

Anyway, that’s neither here not there. Long story short, the GlobalX A320 seemingly struggled to land in Phoenix, and… we don’t really know why? It’s bizarre, because weather conditions were great, with good visibility and light winds. Despite that, the plane performed two go arounds.

During the first attempt, the plane was cleared to land on runway 12C, but then the pilots informed the tower controller of their intent to go around. When asked for the reason for the go around, the pilot simply stated “unstable.”

The plane was then lined up for a second approach on the same runway, and the pilots once again performed a go around.

While then attempting a third approach, the pilots suddenly started flying the completely wrong heading, without air traffic control permission. While they were supposed to be flying a heading of 120 degrees, they were instead turning to a heading of 360 degrees.

Later on, the pilots claimed to have a “computer problem,” and requested to hold their “present position.” However, for whatever reason, they agreed to continue with the approach, despite their initial hesitation.

This time around, the pilots landed successfully, though not before an Allegiant jet behind them was forced to perform a go around, due to them not making the taxiway turn they were asked to make.

The entire clip is worth watching, as there are a lot more details, and the interaction between the pilot and the controllers is really what makes this so interesting.

For what it’s worth, below is the path that the aircraft flew around Phoenix. Once the plane landed, it stayed on the ground for three days, before operating its next flight. However, I don’t think the plane was taken out of service due to any issues, but instead, GlobalX planes have quite a bit of downtime between trips.

What is going on with these pilots and/or this plane?

This is such an unusual situation, and I’m not sure what to even make of this. Was there actually some major malfunction with the aircraft? Or was there some minor computer issue, and the pilots just struggled to actually fly the plane in perfect conditions, rather than just programming the computer?

I’m not saying it’s the case here, but I know one of the common complaints about many of the newer pilots nowadays is that they struggle to actually fly the plane, and instead, are just good at working the computers, since training is so heavily centered around that.

A few things stand out here:

• During the first approach, the plane had a significant decrease in its descent rate on its base leg, as it dropped to 2,500 feet per minute at a low altitude, so I’m not sure if these pilots were just rusty hand flying the plane, or what…
• The pilots did a really lousy job advocating for themselves, and/or communicating to air traffic controllers what they needed; during the third approach they indicated they needed to extend their downwind or hold, and they sort of got talked into accepting an approach
• The pilots seemed really distracted throughout, which probably gets at the poor job they did communicating, and advocating for themselves
• That air traffic controller working P50 W was kind of a jerk, as it should’ve been obvious to him that these pilots were struggling and were working through something, when he almost sarcastically communicated how there were three 10,000 foot runway they should see

I hope the company at least looks into what happened here, because this definitely seems like something out of the ordinary.

Bottom line

Earlier this month, a GlobalX Airbus A320 seemingly struggled to land in Phoenix, despite perfect flying conditions. The pilots requested two go arounds, first claiming an approach was “unstable,” and then claiming there were computer problems. I don’t know what exactly happened here, but it sure is strange…

What do you make of this GlobalX A320 situation in Phoenix?