i recently returned from spain on a boeing 737. there was a shearwind which was causing a bumpy descent. however, when we touched down with a bang the pilot immediately applied trust and re-took off and went round to land again. can any one shead light on this for me? i've heard of go arounds but thought they were made before actual touch down occured? i dont mind admitting the whole experience was very scary especially as the second landing was the fastest and hardest i've ever been through, some people were in tears.
2006-11-20 09:24:53 · 4 answers · asked by pfc123darkknight 5 in Travel ➔ Air Travel
Could have been for a lot of reasons: uncentered or not enough runway as mentioned by the previous poster; on the wrong runway; unexpected traffic on the runway where it shouldn't be; coming in way too fast to stop in time. It's pretty uncommon for a plane to actually touch down then pull back up but whatever the reason for it, it must have been safer than staying down on the ground or the pilot wouldn't have taken the risk of taking back off again.
For what it's worth, I actually discussed wind sheer with a flight attendant friend of mine. When crosswinds are really fast and very low to the ground, it's actually safer to put the plane down very hard and very fast. That's because the crosswinds may shift and throw the plane off balance, since the plane is already losing speed and altitude. The pilots want to push through the wind bands as quickly as possible and with as much power so that the force of the plane will be stronger than the force of the wind. Otherwise the plane might crash. It feels really scary, I know because my last 4 or 5 landings at my home airport have all been during serious windstorms and we've come in way hotter and faster than I am used to. Then you're screeching to a stop. But the pilots are doing that on purpose, even if it doesn't seem like they're very well in control.
2006-11-20 16:00:06 · answer #1 · answered by dcgirl 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
With the conditions that you described the pilot probably landed too far down the runway and felt that he didn't have the adequate distance to stop the aircraft safely, so in turn executed a go around.
Go around don't happen all the time, but are really a very standard procedure and can happen for many reasons. There could be an aircraft still on the runway or there could even be a thunderstorm at the other end of the runway.
Just know that they pilots are very well trained for many situations.
2006-11-21 01:31:31 · answer #2 · answered by ? 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is not that uncommon. It was most likley a saftey issue. The captain in control of the aircraft was not comfortable with the conditions upon landing. That is why he gets the big bucks. The last thing he wants to do is endanger himself or his passengers. A go around costs the airlines a few thousand dollars due to the additional fuel burned and cycle (take off/landing), so if he did it be happy that he did. The last thing you want is an overconfident pilot that takes risks. Be happy you booked a ticket on that airline.
2006-11-20 16:10:27 · answer #3 · answered by jaxpilot11 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
With the wind blowing him around, he might have come down too far down the runway, or not centered.
2006-11-20 10:01:02 · answer #4 · answered by EQ 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋