See tower controller reported an aircraft on upwind had engine issues and turned back to the runway....

Narrative:

Working local south; runway 27L (our pattern sector). 4 in the pattern on runway 27L. During the session I heard a call that was not understandable. I requested the pilot to say again. The second call was interrupted by another pilot. I heard another call that I was unable to understand; I keyed up and said aircraft calling either you have a stuck mic or I can't understand your request. I then was informed that an aircraft was on final for runway 9R (opposite direction). My first instinct was to look at my final where an aircraft was on a 1/4 mile final (aircraft Y). I sent the aircraft around and instructed a second aircraft on a mile and a half final to start a climb and go around. Apparently aircraft X had engine issues and made a 180 on the upwind and land on 9R. No loss of separation was had and aircraft X exited at the end of 9R. There was not much I could personally do to avoid the situation; I believe the lack of english proficiency played a major role in the incident. If I were to understand the pilot and his intentions I would have been able to better prepare and execute a better plan to avert sending an aircraft around on a 1/4 mile final.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SEE Tower Controller reported an aircraft on upwind had engine issues and turned back to the runway. Two aircraft on final were issued go-arounds.

Narrative: Working Local South; runway 27L (our pattern sector). 4 in the pattern on runway 27L. During the session I heard a call that was not understandable. I requested the pilot to say again. The second call was interrupted by another pilot. I heard another call that I was unable to understand; I keyed up and said aircraft calling either you have a stuck mic or I can't understand your request. I then was informed that an aircraft was on final for runway 9R (opposite direction). My first instinct was to look at my final where an aircraft was on a 1/4 mile final (Aircraft Y). I sent the aircraft around and instructed a second aircraft on a mile and a half final to start a climb and go around. Apparently Aircraft X had engine issues and made a 180 on the upwind and land on 9R. No loss of separation was had and Aircraft X exited at the end of 9R. There was not much I could personally do to avoid the situation; I believe the lack of English proficiency played a major role in the incident. If I were to understand the pilot and his intentions I would have been able to better prepare and execute a better plan to avert sending an aircraft around on a 1/4 mile final.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1417691
Time
Date	201701
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	SEE.Tower
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft High Wing 1 Eng Fixed Gear
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	None
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft High Wing 1 Eng Fixed Gear
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Route In Use	None
Person 1
Function	Local
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

See tower controller reported an aircraft on upwind had engine issues and turned back to the runway. Two aircraft on final were issued go-arounds.