Firm-landings and go-arounds can be normal safety procedures by pilots

Safety is paramount in aviation and every detail is taken into account. A pilot’s priority is always the safe departure and arrival of the flight, the passengers, and the crew. Pilots will never sacrifice convenience and comfort for safety. Two things that we experience on our flights are firm-landings and go-arounds, at which most of the time, are very normal.

I shall now be discussing why these are normal safety procedures and why they are not a reflection of a pilot’s airmanship.

Firm landings or hard landings

Many Filipino passengers think that if a landing is executed smoothly, the pilot is good. If the landing was hard, then the pilot lacks skill. In fact, I heard a passenger on a video say “sayang naman ang binayad ko sa sama ng landing.”

This is very wrong. There are reasons why pilots intentionally have to execute a firm landing, and these all point to ensuring the safety of the flight.

The smoothness or roughness of a landing is determined by the conditions of the runway and at the runway at that very moment.

Length of runway

The first factor is the length of the runway. To execute a smooth landing, the pilots must flare (or float in ground effect) the aircraft and slowly touch down. The more you flare, the more runway it would eat and may result in an overshoot. Also, a flare is never done on a wet runway, especially during rainy weather conditions.

Weather conditions

The second reason why is the weather. If the aircraft is landing in poor weather conditions, a positive landing is required. This is where the vertical descent speed of the aircraft is enough to “cut” through the thin layer of water or ice to achieve a quick contact with the ground to avoid any chance of hydroplaning. 

Even if the weather is clear and you know the runway is long, hard landings may still happen when crosswind is present on the runway. There are different techniques for crosswind landings such as sideslip, crab, and de-crab but all will still result in a hard landing.

Are hard landings good or bad? Both. They are good if they are done with proper execution. Bad when vertical descent speed is too fast which may cause structural damage to the aircraft due to the force.

Before we say “our pilot sucks because we experienced a hard landing”, know the reason why such was executed. Yes, it is uncomfortable, but sometimes or at most times, the main reason is to get the aircraft onto the ground safely given the present weather and runway condition.

Go-arounds

There are indeed various reasons why pilots would decide to rather go around than land the aircraft. Landing is the most dangerous phase in every flight a landing is also known as a “controlled crash”. These reasons are based on a lot of factors.

A common factor is an unstable approach or an obstruction in the runway. Again, all these go back to safety. If pilots think that it is not safe to land, they call it a go-around. Other factors are hard landings which result in a bounce. A factor may also be attributed to a bad approach like slow speed during the finals. Other factors that may result in a go-around are:

• Pilot cannot get inline with the runway
• Glideslope is all wrong
• Overspeed where your aircraft will float about 50 to 100 feet above the runway and will not touch down on the ground due to having to much speed. The effect of this is missing the touchdown zone which may cause the aircraft to run out of runway.
• Instability because of wind shear
• Traffic avoidance where an aircraft or vehicle is still on the runway during short finals. A pilot decides to call a go-around at low altitudes when he has a clear picture of what is in front. It usually happens during finals.

Different procedures for different aircraft and airports

There are different procedures for different types of aircraft and airports. Different aircraft have different procedures and callouts when applying power for missed approaches. Airports also have different instructions and this is why it is very important for the flight deck crew to review the the approach charts as the instructions for missed approaches are in the charts. If it is a precision approach, then there is a decision altitude (DA) for you to make that decision.

Upon making a decision to go around, the pilots then follow the procedure for climb and the instructions of the airspace. The pilots climb at a certain altitude which is indicated on the approach charts, follow the pattern and setup for another approach.

The landing phase is always the most dangerous phase in a flight. Pilots are always mindful of the separation to avoid any collision, and this is why we do not see them talking during this phase.

While landing, the pilots listen to other pilots to be aware of who are behind, above, and ahead. This is call situational awareness where the pilots should know who are out there, where they care coming from, and their intentions.

A go-around caused by a technical issue is rare as pilots have to land the aircraft as fast as possible. They normally call the attention of the air traffic controller to clear the airspace and to get landing priority if the aircraft is facing serious technical issues.

So if you experience a go-around or a firm-landing, please thank your pilot for ensuring your safety as this procedure is done primarily for the safety of the whole flight and those around. These are normal procedures so there is nothing to worry about.