How common are 'go arounds'?
Discussion
Was landing at Frankfurt on a Lufthansa flight a few months ago in fog, when we were quite close to the ground engines throttled up to what seemed like full throttle and we back up we went, a fairly unnerving experience. Made worse when the captain comes on the intercom and said they were unable to see the runway and we'd circle for an 'automatic landing'. Everything was OK of course but just wondering if any of those in the industry could advise how common an occurence this is? I've flown a heck of alot in the past 4 years but only one of these so far, cheers
Off topic I know, but the most worring one I had was an aborted take-off, all engines fired up, roared off down the runway in the 747, then power cut and huge braking, and going around the taxi field again.
Something about one of the engines not responding correctly, so very glad they stopped, what was worrying was an hour later them sayin it was all fine and off you go
it did turn out fine though obviously
Something about one of the engines not responding correctly, so very glad they stopped, what was worrying was an hour later them sayin it was all fine and off you go
it did turn out fine though obviouslyI hate flying and average about 15 flights a month (had 7 this week) 
Only had one "go around" and I was less than impressed. Dulles airport, we got too close to the aircraft in front.
Plenty of dodgy landings and aborted all sorts of stuff whilst in the RAF, VC10's and Tristars tend to go U/S at the drop of a hat.
Only had one "go around" and I was less than impressed. Dulles airport, we got too close to the aircraft in front.Plenty of dodgy landings and aborted all sorts of stuff whilst in the RAF, VC10's and Tristars tend to go U/S at the drop of a hat.
I've not done any personally although only been flying commercially for a few months, but I have seen an Emirates 777 going round at Birmingham, that was back when it was all snowy so I think they got scared at the sight of snow on the ground (the runway was clear apart from the odd patch of slush), other than that not seen any.
All license holders in NZ (from PPL to ATPL) automatically receive the CAA quarterly publication "Flight Safety" (well they did when I was back there until '96). Aircrew could anonymously submit incident reports.One report was from a 737 Captain who was landing at Wellington on a gusty day. Wellington's runway is on the Miramar peninsula - jutting out into a south-facing harbour so gusty 30-40 knot days are commonplace. He reported that following a massive drop on a particularly nasty day he selected go-around power but it just wasn't enough. While still at full power the mains contacted the runway & he thought "this'll do" & immediately cut all power, went to reverse thrust, brakes etc. The FO congratulated him on a superb landing in atrocious conditions & the Captain acknowledged the compliment without admitting he really had no intention of landing & was actually trying to go-around!
I experienced 3 aborted landings into Geneva due to fog / low vis a couple of years ago. They eventually diverted us to Lyon, sat on the ground for a couple of hours then went back to try again, luckily the fog had lifted and could see where to land. Quite a scary experience, don't just book it Thomas Cook it.
I’ve have had a couple of these. The first big one was on a recent holiday to Egypt. It was a sunny day, great visibility and on final approach. We fly in over the desert and are about the cross the end of the runway about 15 seconds from landing. All of a sudden the pilot slams the throttles open and peals away to the left, lots of screams, from the passengers, I look out the window to see another 737 taxiing down the runway 
A few moments later to the pilot comes on to apologise for the go around, his excuse was a obstruction on the runway!!!!! How the hell does that happen? I complained to the airline about the incident, they promised to investigate but I heard nothing.
The second incident happened two years ago. I was returning from Tampa Florida having been on business trip and was enjoying the rare treat of business class. The trip was made more enjoyable as I was sat next to a retired BA captain and his good lady, an ex stewardess. He regaled me with wonderful stories of what it used to like as a pilot in the days when flying was glamourous. Great bloke.
Anyway the night before I flew the other half had warned me of high winds that where expected over London the next day.
So half an hour before landing the plane started to get choppy and gradually got worse the closer we got to Heathrow. It got so bad that the cabin crew all had to strap in and we were sill 20 mins from landing. The screams from cattle class were starting to get very intense. Having never been a nervous flying I must admit I found this amusing. My pilot friend again said this was nothing compared to the old days.
One min from landing now and the planes movements were getting violent. As we crossed the threshold we were hit but a huge cross wind that pushed the plane so far sideways I could see down the runway from my position in the centre of the plane. The pilot decided to abort and hit the gas; we pitched hard to the left and pealed away as I watched the right wing get very close to hitting the runway.
The pilot apologised and said we were going around. This time it was worse. The pilot was having major problems lining the plane up and we had two major drops just before the edge end of the runway. Again ten seconds of so before landing we were hit again by a side wind even more violent than the first. The pilot was quicker to respond this time but the plane felt like it was going to fly apart. By this time the passengers were in a major panic. As we climbed away the pilot came on to say that we would have to divert to Manchester so off we went.
The landing at Manchester was text book but we had to park on the apron because we were not allowed to off load the passengers due to immigrations constraints. This did not stop some nervous passengers who tried to make a run for it but were restrained.
Anyway the ground crew opened the door behind the cockpit and pushed up a ladder. My new pilot friend and I were allowed to stand at the door to get some air. This is when we saw the Air Singapore Cargo 747 that was parked next to us. Both of stared in disbelief at the out side engine that had all its outer casing torn off. We asked the ground crew what had happened and were told that it had arrived about an hour before us having also attempted to land at Heathrow. The engine has kissed the runway causing the damage we saw.
A few moments later to the pilot comes on to apologise for the go around, his excuse was a obstruction on the runway!!!!! How the hell does that happen? I complained to the airline about the incident, they promised to investigate but I heard nothing.The second incident happened two years ago. I was returning from Tampa Florida having been on business trip and was enjoying the rare treat of business class. The trip was made more enjoyable as I was sat next to a retired BA captain and his good lady, an ex stewardess. He regaled me with wonderful stories of what it used to like as a pilot in the days when flying was glamourous. Great bloke.
Anyway the night before I flew the other half had warned me of high winds that where expected over London the next day.
So half an hour before landing the plane started to get choppy and gradually got worse the closer we got to Heathrow. It got so bad that the cabin crew all had to strap in and we were sill 20 mins from landing. The screams from cattle class were starting to get very intense. Having never been a nervous flying I must admit I found this amusing. My pilot friend again said this was nothing compared to the old days.
One min from landing now and the planes movements were getting violent. As we crossed the threshold we were hit but a huge cross wind that pushed the plane so far sideways I could see down the runway from my position in the centre of the plane. The pilot decided to abort and hit the gas; we pitched hard to the left and pealed away as I watched the right wing get very close to hitting the runway.
The pilot apologised and said we were going around. This time it was worse. The pilot was having major problems lining the plane up and we had two major drops just before the edge end of the runway. Again ten seconds of so before landing we were hit again by a side wind even more violent than the first. The pilot was quicker to respond this time but the plane felt like it was going to fly apart. By this time the passengers were in a major panic. As we climbed away the pilot came on to say that we would have to divert to Manchester so off we went.
The landing at Manchester was text book but we had to park on the apron because we were not allowed to off load the passengers due to immigrations constraints. This did not stop some nervous passengers who tried to make a run for it but were restrained.
Anyway the ground crew opened the door behind the cockpit and pushed up a ladder. My new pilot friend and I were allowed to stand at the door to get some air. This is when we saw the Air Singapore Cargo 747 that was parked next to us. Both of stared in disbelief at the out side engine that had all its outer casing torn off. We asked the ground crew what had happened and were told that it had arrived about an hour before us having also attempted to land at Heathrow. The engine has kissed the runway causing the damage we saw.
Nothing to really complain about in the first incident, during approach, guided by ATC, the captain would have presumed the aircraft in front was in the process of taking off and would have been well clear by the time you arrived.
At a safe height the captain makes the final decision whether to land or go around. It might have seemed close, but the safety margin is built in for this reason.
At a safe height the captain makes the final decision whether to land or go around. It might have seemed close, but the safety margin is built in for this reason.
Penguinracer said:
All license holders in NZ (from PPL to ATPL) automatically receive the CAA quarterly publication "Flight Safety" (well they did when I was back there until '96). Aircrew could anonymously submit incident reports.One report was from a 737 Captain who was landing at Wellington on a gusty day. Wellington's runway is on the Miramar peninsula - jutting out into a south-facing harbour so gusty 30-40 knot days are commonplace. He reported that following a massive drop on a particularly nasty day he selected go-around power but it just wasn't enough. While still at full power the mains contacted the runway & he thought "this'll do" & immediately cut all power, went to reverse thrust, brakes etc. The FO congratulated him on a superb landing in atrocious conditions & the Captain acknowledged the compliment without admitting he really had no intention of landing & was actually trying to go-around!
Sounds like a carrier landing. I'm led to believe they land on full throttle so if it doesn't hook on to one of the arrester cables they can go around. Possibly this is textbook. Wrong aircraft, wrong place...but ho hum!john_p said:
Nothing to really complain about in the first incident, during approach, guided by ATC, the captain would have presumed the aircraft in front was in the process of taking off and would have been well clear by the time you arrived.
At a safe height the captain makes the final decision whether to land or go around. It might have seemed close, but the safety margin is built in for this reason.
Thanks for the explanation guys, it just seemed very close as we coming over the end of the runway at the timeAt a safe height the captain makes the final decision whether to land or go around. It might have seemed close, but the safety margin is built in for this reason.
Had two go arounds and one landing with minimal flaps as they had iced up.
The only dramatic one, if it can be described at that was at ARN (Stockholm) due to an earlier flight not clearing runway when the pilot put on full power and pulled back and it seemed by feel and vision that we were neither accelerating nor climbing, just seemed to hang there with the engines banging away. Eventually we gained some height and went around, after that no problem.
Worst commercial landing I can recall was in very strong crosswinds at BHX in one of the now long gone UNO services. We had a long time circling and circling as the conditions were too bad and I was expecting a divert, anyway we finally had an attempt and they got it down first time, but the wingtip at one point was skimmimg the deck and after straightening it up the pilot banged it down on the runway with a hell of a bump.
The only dramatic one, if it can be described at that was at ARN (Stockholm) due to an earlier flight not clearing runway when the pilot put on full power and pulled back and it seemed by feel and vision that we were neither accelerating nor climbing, just seemed to hang there with the engines banging away. Eventually we gained some height and went around, after that no problem.
Worst commercial landing I can recall was in very strong crosswinds at BHX in one of the now long gone UNO services. We had a long time circling and circling as the conditions were too bad and I was expecting a divert, anyway we finally had an attempt and they got it down first time, but the wingtip at one point was skimmimg the deck and after straightening it up the pilot banged it down on the runway with a hell of a bump.
Tango13 said:
Slightly O/T
Is there any truth in the storey about a commercial airliner pilot who only just made it into the air after a packet of cigarettes got wedged in such a way as to prevent full throttle?
I've always thought it was an urban myth/total bulls**t.
I would be inclined to say its a load of b/s. Given how strictly everything is checked prior to take off, and also I seem to remember that most jets do not use full throttle for take off, more like 80-90%. Is there any truth in the storey about a commercial airliner pilot who only just made it into the air after a packet of cigarettes got wedged in such a way as to prevent full throttle?
I've always thought it was an urban myth/total bulls**t.
To answer the topic question, I on average have 1 go-around a year, and that is based on about 500 flights anually. I also 'nearly' have to go around about once a month.
For us there are many reasons to go around these are just some:
Not being cleared to land by ATC
Not being able to see the runway due to cloud base/mist/fog
Excessive Tail wind (normally 10-15 mph for most planes)
Excessive Cross wind (normally 20-35 mph " " " )
Runway blocked by other planes/cars etc
Not stable (being at correct speed, height, roll angles etc)
Turbulence
Rubbish pilots on the controls (me included)
Technical defects (remember most aircraft systems are put to use during the approach phase, gear/flaps, radio altimeter, speed brakes etc)
Hope that shines some light on the matter
For us there are many reasons to go around these are just some:
Not being cleared to land by ATC
Not being able to see the runway due to cloud base/mist/fog
Excessive Tail wind (normally 10-15 mph for most planes)
Excessive Cross wind (normally 20-35 mph " " " )
Runway blocked by other planes/cars etc
Not stable (being at correct speed, height, roll angles etc)
Turbulence
Rubbish pilots on the controls (me included)
Technical defects (remember most aircraft systems are put to use during the approach phase, gear/flaps, radio altimeter, speed brakes etc)
Hope that shines some light on the matter
Edited by scarebus on Saturday 27th February 09:19
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