Friday morning as my flight from BNA to DTW was attempting to land and after the back wheels have touched down we suddenly go into a steep ascent.

During our circle the pilot says over the PA something to the effect, "Sorry for that last landing attempt folks, we found out there was another plane on the runway!"

I had three friends with me, one who hasn't flown in 14 yrs and only once then and the other 2 are infrequent flyers. They were all very shook up by this.

Anybody got experience with this.

It happens on occasion, and my while never a lot of "fun," it's better than the alternative. Worst part is usually how long it takes to return to the landing que and try again.

Has happened to me twice, both within one week. One time, landing in PIT. We were within a few hundred feet of landing when suddenly the pilot pulled up violently and I felt like we were zooming off like a spaceship. Turns out the plane before us had not cleared the runway as fast it should have.

We circled and came back to land in another 15 minutes. The other time, four days later, was not quite as violent.... It was an interesting experience, and as posted, I'm glad I was in the air rather than on the ground running into another plane!

Ordinary go-arounds are no big deal and are neither infrequent nor dangerous. However, the situation described in the base note--the writer claimed that the wheels were actually on the runway--would be unusual if indeed it happened that way. My guess is that the writer may have mistaken the attitude and power shifts (from low power for landing to full-power for a go-around) for contacting the runway.

They can be quite surprising though. My latest was coming back from Europe on a 747 and when they lit up all four for a last minute go around it snapped everyone out of their long flight torpor.

Once, on PeopleExpress, landing in JAX about 17 years ago.

My dad was on an ORD-DEN flight a few years ago in the winter and was listening to channel 9. They were doing go-arounds for awhile because of limited runway operations because of snow. While on final approach, the captain aborted the landing, did a go-around, and made a comment to ATC along the lines of "Next time, if you could get the snow plow off the runway..." and subsequently channel 9 was shut off.

Had one about two weeks ago coming into PIT on US. We were about 50 feet above the ground and basically took off again. We never got the reason why from the cockpit.

It was late at night and certainly woke me up for the drive home! You get a real feeling for the sheer power that the engines have when you go throught this! If memory serves, I think it was a 737.

I was lucky enough to be in the cockpit of a CX 747-400 attempting to land in a rainstorm at JFK. The preceding aircraft didn't appear to have quite cleared the runway and the pilot called a go-around at the last minute.

As another poster stated, the worst part of the affair is the lengthy delay being resequenced for landing. After flying over the southern part of Queens, we headed back out over the Atlantic for several minutes before being vectored back into the pattern.

It has happened to me a couple of times.

First time was landing in Seattle on an SAS DC-10 (obviously several years ago). SEA was fogged in and we had been diverted to Edmonton where we sat on the ground for a few hours. When we finally got to Seattle we circled for an other hour and then attempted to land. Then main gear was on the ground when suddenly the engines roared and we shot back up.

The captain came on the PA and explained that he had "overshot" the runway and that the fog had now gotten worse and he wouldn't be able to make another landing. We were told that we were now heading for Portland where we were supposed to wait out the fog.

All of a sudden we started descending however, and the captain said there was a "hole" in the fog and "he was going to give it another try". It was extremely foggy and I couldn't even see the wing tips, but he made a perfect landing and we all let out a sigh of relief.

You haven't lived until you've had this experience in a 757!

We were landing in Vegas, and I remember looking out the window at the Luxor Hotel. All of a sudden, the pilot gunned the engines and pulled us into a very steep climb - and then we rolled off to the right. I have never heard an aircraft SCREAM like that before. It was quite obvious that the throttles were slapped wide open. Some people were screaming, and one of the overhead bins opened. The FAs came around and asked if everyone was ok. A small aircraft had rolled onto our runway.

The 757 is a Porsche, trust me!

Thanks for everyone's input to this very distressing incident.

Wideman - I can assure you that the back wheels were on the ground when we began our climb, I was sitting just above where the back wheels were and have never mistaken the sensation of actually being on the ground during landing.

To continue this thread, the other members of my travelling party are still talking about this and have discussed contacting SWA to file complaints. What does everyone believe the likelyhood of being issued certs as a penance may be?

I can't see any reason for trying for or expecting money/certs/freebies. That would be like asking for a refund due to turbulence.

Given the alternative, I would say the pilot/airline did what was proper and probably what ATC told them to do. Nobody (at least outside of some navy pilots I know ) does this kind of thing for fun or to annoy the passengers.

Complaints about what? Not slamming a fully loaded 737 into another aircraft at 150 mph?


Why anyone would even think of asking for a refund/credit/voucher for something that was completely out of SWA's control (and, as LEB said, considering the alternative...) is beyond me.

Please tell me you were kidding?


[This message has been edited by SuperSlug (edited 07-03-2001).]

The airline has no control over the condition of the runway. It would fall into the same as category as being delayed for weather(fog, snow, etc.).

Also I don't think that the airline should be chastised because of a error made by the air traffic controllers. Look at the other option the pilot had: slamming into the other plane at 200 mph and sending your airplane into somersaults for the rest of the bloody fireball of a ride down the runway.
I doubt you thought to take the time to thank the pilot for potentially saving your life on your way out of the plane. You may have been consumed by your greed and the misconception that you deserved some kind of compensation for the experience, as frightening as it may have been.


[This message has been edited by Peregrine (edited 07-03-2001).]