Rabidstoat

All planes land eventually. Some more gently than others.

Gravity and all.

And here I thought I was special have three at DCA in the past year.

It's weird because I can only remember having one aborted landing before in some half million miles of flying, and that was years ago. Then bam! In the past year it's happened three times landing at DCA, and I've only flown there like 7 or 8 times, so that's practically half of the flights.

First time maybe shouldn't count, we were following the Potomac in and weren't all that low when the captain pulled up and turned. Something about a flock of geese in the area.

Second time was a standard go-around, we pretty low (hundred feet or so, just guessing) when the captain called it off. Full throttle, fast climb, etc. Cross-winds were the problem, probably wind shear scares too.

Third time was as close to a touch-and-go as I've had. We didn't actually touch but we were low over the runway when we zoomed up. Captain said something about a plane on the runway where it shouldn't be. I like to think he meant that it would've been fine, we wouldn't have hit, but it would've been too close for safety regulations. Or else maybe the plane was in the wrong place and we were almost a fiery ball of wreckage, who knows!

AMflier

No aborted take offs but a few go arounds.

Most of the go arounds were for traffic on the runway but there was one that wasn't.

Many years ago: We were far along on our approach to runway 22 at LGA in a Delta MD-80. It was raining heavily and the plane was lurching around quite a bit. I was near the back and was really unhappy with all of the movement. Suddenly there was a bright white flash on the starboard side, a loud boom, and the plane lurched wildly to one side. We pulled around. We landed on the next try.
While deplaning I looked at the Captain and said, "Lightning?" He smiled and said, "Let's just say that there was a discharge."

frobozzelectric

on final to DPL with inclement weather, i heard the engines go to TO/GA and i knew we were heading back to CEB which had an instrument approach.

got a few free flights from 5J.

catcher1

At DCA recently, we were on approach, fairly low, when plane banked, ascended and went around. Captain explained, during the turnaround, that he didn't like his approach so he decided to try again, reassuring us that it was nothing to be concerned about. I was impressed that he was candid.

catcher1

Decades ago, in a small Bolivian airport (don't remember the city) with a dirt runway, pilot descended to under 1000 feet and honked several times. Turned out it was SOP there, to scare the animals off the runway. The good old days.

beachmouse

We started out with a 15 or so minute delay on the ground in ATL because there was some sort of issue with duplicate seat assignments. Once we got in the air, our first weather delay involved circling somewhere in the vicinity of Moab, UT, or Grand Junction, CO for a bit because the pilot was waiting for some crosswind issues in SLC to get resolved. And SLC ATC though we were good to go, so we got sent westward to land.

But that didn't work out so well, resulting in a go round. We spend probably half an hour circling over the Bonneville Salt Flats while the cockpit gets on the radio with Operations to make a decision on whether to just divert to Las Vegas or give it a few more minutes and go for a SLC landing. Second attempt to land in SLC is successful, and decidedly firm.

The next day, I get one of those 'About Your Flight Delay' survey requests that Delta loves to send in my e-mail box. I write several nice long essay answers about the professionalism of pilots and FAs in handling our in-flight issues only to realize after submitting it that most of the questions were really about the 15 minute computer issue before we even left the gate. I suspect I wasn't the only responder who rather graded on a curve for that flight.

OccasionalFlyerPerson

I'm looking at these reports with my mouth gaping open. I've never even experienced a rough landing.

jrl767

BillMorrow

I've had aborted landings quite a few times. Most of these were at the Burlington, VT airport in the winter. It usually occurred because the pilot was not familiar with airport (especially with regional carriers). They would get to BTV late in the evening to find the tower closed and the weather not the best. It used to piss me off that the airline would send pilots into an airport they are not familiar with in bad weather. I would get really pissed off when they would divert to Albany without even trying to land. I know it sounds weird as the pilots had safety concerns, but the snow clearing ability at BTV is very, very good. The airport shares the runways with the Air National Guard who work in all weather conditions (go Green Mountain Boys!!).

Have also had a few aborted take offs over time. If you have a connection to make, there is a very good chance you will miss it if this occurs. After an aborted take off, it usually takes at least an hour for the aircraft's brakes to cool off enough to try another take off.

Here's a tidbit: If you are landing in bad weather and it seems like the approach is very fast, it because pilots wants to have enough air speed to safely abort the landing and go around.

LarryJ

Being familiar with an airport has no affect on your ability to land in bad weather. Certain legalities must be met in order to begin an approach. Additional legalities must be met in order to land at the end of the approach. None of those legalities have anything to do with being familiar with the airport. The tower being closed should not affect your ability to land nor the weather minimums that are needed to fly the approach or to land as local weather is now reported by automated systems and not the tower controllers.

That will depend on the aircraft's speed at the time of the reject, the aircraft's weight, and the air temperature. Definitely true for high-speed rejects. Low speed rejects might not require any cooling time at all.

Not true. We do not fly the approach faster in anticipation of a go-around. We fly the approach faster at heavier weights and with stronger, or gustier, surface winds.

swingaling

Had an aborted landing with QR two months ago at DEL. First time I've ever had an aborted landing. We came in for a landing and everything was normal. The main gear touched down, but before they could get the nose down, they gave it full thottle and took off again. We circled around and landed on the second attempt.

The captain came over the PA during the turnaround and informed us that there had been a runway obstruction that necessitated the abort. They never revealed what the nature of the obstruction was, though we surmised it was most likely another plane or a ground vehicle in the way. Or perhaps a cow on the tarmac. As the saying goes, "anything is possible in India".

yyznomad

Aborted landings: a handful of times in the past 15 years, but nothing I can recall in any detail except for a MDTORD UA flight.

Aborted takeoff: once only - at MCO on AC in October 2004, IIRC. Aircraft was either a 319 or 320. Firetrucks deployed. Some tires were destroyed, IIRC.