Interesting landing today

[LVSteve]

So as not to hijack the turbulence thread, I'll tell this here.

Flew back to Vegas today after a few days away. Skies around the city looked awful due to CA wildfire smoke and the pilot mentioned that it was windy. Approaching from the east it was no surprise that the ride was getting bumpy, SOP for Vegas after 1000 even on an otherwise calm day. As we went over the perimeter fence and then passed the threshold marking on the parallel runway, I noted two things. Fast and high.

Sink rate increased and we touched, but we were definitely further down the runway than normal. As this thought formed, the throttles got firewalled and back up we went. Rate of climb was impressive, but then I guess it would be on a modern jet getting light on fuel. Yep, our landing had turned into a touch and go. Pilot blamed a sudden change in the wind, but I'm not convinced. we did a long circle to get back to being lined up and we landed no problem at the second attempt.

I think this is the second or third go-around I've experienced at this airport. One the pilot got the glide angle all wrong, knew it early and was quickly on the intercom to apologize. The other time it was alleged that there was a runway incursion, or near incursion by a ground vehicle, but people were a bit more tight lipped about the whole deal.

Anyone else have any similar, "Hmm, what happened there?" type stories?

 

[robertrwalsh]

You walked away so......it was a good landing. (I don't care to fly. I don't like not being in control or being able to get the hell out and walk if it is getting too strange. Last airliner I flew in was a 1929 Ford Trimotor. They are loud inside the cabin.)

 

[ladder13]

Another plane on the ground?

 

[dockmurgw]

Years ago...started down the runway for takeoff, then all of a sudden, the pilot abandoned the attempt and taxied back to the gate. An EXTREMELY nervous woman sitting next to me was asking what is happening in a panicked voice...I calmly stated that they forgot to fill the fuel tank. She lost it. Hindsight being 20 20...I probably should have kept that to myself.

 

[Retired W4]

What is worse, and aborted take off or an aborted landing?

 

[Greyman50]

I do not fly any more period. Daughter says I should go to Europe on vacation, yea I’ll take a cargo ship if I do as the time change is not bad as it takes 4-5 days. Will see but doubt it.
I flew many 1000s of hours for work back in late 70s-90s and figure those were the “ Best of times” for flying.

 

[Bugkiller99]

Go arounds don’t bother me. If one of the pilots doesn’t like the way the landing is going, I don’t like the way the landing is going.
Same when being diverted. Yes, it’s an inconvenience. So is being scraped off the runway.

 

[olfart]

What is worse, and aborted take off or an aborted landing?
View attachment 782806

Either way, it's an abortion.

 

[SMSgt]

I had the pleasure of flying through Salt Lake City once. I've flown all my life in most everything from DC-3s to the Boeing monsters. I'm quite used to seeing trees become mere green mass below. But on that one day, we took off in a normal manner, but a moment later as we climbed over the mountains, I thought we still looked a bit low to the ground at that point. Then I realized I didn't see green mass, I saw individual tree limbs on the trees. We're way too low I realized. Just as that thought sank in, the engines went to full power and the aircraft nose came up. Yeah, we were way to low on that climb out. The crew said nothing, I said nothing, but I bet some words were exchanged in the cockpit. On the flip side, I had the pleasure of riding with a KC-135 pilot who could grease that heavy sucker on the runway. The only indication of touching down was the sound of the wheels rolling and the engines coming to idle. The crew chief said he landed that way every time.

 

[AJ]

Landed Washington National once in a commerical aircraft. There were crosswinds and the bird was maybe 20+ degrees off of centerline. Once the pilot got it straightened out he chopped the throttles to get it on the ground. Hard landing was the result and folks were all upset. On the way off the aircraft I asked the pilot if he had landed on carriers before.........

On landing at MCAS Iwakuni, Japan once in a commerical carrier, he had to pull up to miss the sea wall there. His glide slope was for the runway, only problem was there is a sea wall around the ocean side of the runway. The sea wall is maybe 10+ feet higher than the runway, so you have to account for that and he had not. So a bit of a jerk on the stick to get clearance. He took some ribbing on that one as the aircraft passangers were aviators and the guys that worked on aircraft.

Also at Iwakuni, an A4 was landing at night. He also was a bit low. The pilot woke up as sea water was filling the cockpit. Landed short in about 50 feet of water. Lifted the aircraft out in one piece with a barge and a crane a few days later. I think they wrote the bird off as it had been immersed in sea water to long.

 

[ADAMOCOK]

My most memorable landing / go around occupied at ORD. Flying in on B727-100 with weather conditions very sloppy at Chicago. Flight was held in a box for awhile and I was using my watch to time turns and make my best guess of where we were. We rolled out for an approach descending into very solid clouds with rain increasing at lower altitude. Flight crew stabilized approach in dark and buffeting conditions.
Deep into the approach, in the dark and with rain beating on the fuselage the aircraft pitched to an angle for best rate of climb. The engines which had been quiet started to whine. We and the aircraft just seem to hang still in the air. I'm wondering who is on the throttles flight engineer or one of the pilots.
Passenger across the aisle in 1st turns toward me after the P&W's start making thrust to take us back through the cloud cover and let's out a drawn-out "Golly". Well hello Gomer Pyle, "Jim Narbors".

 

[olfart]

I had the pleasure of riding with a KC-135 pilot who could grease that heavy sucker on the runway. The only indication of touching down was the sound of the wheels rolling and the engines coming to idle. The crew chief said he landed that way every time.

Yep. I had the distinct honor of one of those flights. I used to work as an industrial photographer for Collins Radio, and Collins got the contract to upgrade the avionics in the Air Force One Fleet. When the first one was completed, I photographed the finished installation to be used as a guide to doing the others. The pilot came aboard as I was finishing, and said they were about to take a test hop down to Bergstrom AFB at Austin. I quickly got on the phone to my boss and got his permission to go along for the ride and photograph the Collins Flight Director system in flight. Heckuva deal! So I rode the jump seat between the pilots and shot photos over the pilot's shoulder on the approaches (we did 3 touch-and-goes). And as SMSgt said, he landed it like he knew what he was doing.

 

[65-2x2]

Back in the old days, before 911, I was on a flight that the pilot misjudged his landing and hit the ground hard, really hard is is a wonder that he didn't blow the tires...As we were lining up to exit the plane, the cabin door was open and the pilot was doing some paperwork, the guy ahead of me knocked on the open door, and when the pilot looked up he got the middle finger. I had to smile.

I don't fly anymore as I just don't want to have to be subjected to the whole lovely airport experience.

 

[BE Mike]

Everybody is a critic. During challenging conditions, any landing where there is no damage to the aircraft or pax is an excellent one. Landing where everyone walks away is a good one.

 

[Rudi]

Any landing you can walk away from, as the old saying goes.

 

[Astro14]

Everyone is a critic - seems that the less experience one has - the more of a critic they feel entitled to be.

Thank the crew for doing the right thing - going around when the landing isn’t right. It’s a hard call, and not done enough.

Lest we forget, here is a crew that should have gone around, but thought they could “save it”.

Southwest Airlines Flight 1455 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Your crew was far more professional.

 

[ladder13]

We were ground stopped in Denver for an hour+ a couple weeks ago. Someone apparently stole a small plane in Vancouver and was flying in circles around the Vancouver airport until a couple Canadian jets forced it down. No complaints on the delay from us.

Coming home, this time flying into Denver from Calgary, a thunderstorm around the airport kept us in a holding pattern for 20+ minutes, a little bumpy but again no complaints.
We always thank the FA’s and crew.

583 poor souls never made it off the runway in this disaster.

Tenerife airport disaster - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[olfart]

Everyone is a critic - seems that the less experience one has - the more of a critic they feel entitled to be.

Thank the crew for doing the right thing - going around when the landing isn’t right. It’s a hard call, and not done enough.

Lest we forget, here is a crew that should have gone around, but thought they could “save it”.

Southwest Airlines Flight 1455 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

View attachment 782870


Your crew was far more professional.

That pic obviously was from the previous century. Check those gas prices!

 

[AJ]

583 poor souls never made it off the runway in this disaster.

Tenerife airport disaster - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I was sweating bullets for a while when that happpened. My Wife & Daughter were flying back to the States from Japan on a 747. I was in Korea on a det. from Japan. All we heard was that two 747's had collided and a bunch of folks were dead. It took a bit to find out where it had happened. Was very much relieved when the location came out. Felt sorry for those folks though.

 

[arjay]

Landing in Reykjavik at night for fuel in the late 50s ,4 prop (DC 6?) all you could see was water.Didn’t bother me,I was a kid