Photo: 123RF
A pilot can opt to go around anytime during a landing
What do pilots do if they get scared while landing?
Pilots are trained to handle all sorts of difficult situations but that doesn’t mean they don’t get scared sometimes. Landing is not something a professional pilot is fearful of unless there is something out of the ordinary.
On July 19, 1989, a United Airlines DC-10 flight from Denver to Chicago suffered a failure of all its hydraulic systems. It led to the loss of all its flight controls. It was almost like losing control of the steering wheel of your car!
Fortunately, the pilot was able to resort to an unconventional mean by using asymmetric thrust to maintain directional control. They faced great difficulty controlling airspeed and sink rate. During the final approach to land, the aircraft’s forward speed was about 80 knots above the normal landing speed and with very high sink rate.
Just before landing, the turn to the right suddenly worsened and the aircraft began to dive. The engines were not able to respond in time to stop the roll and the plane crashed. Of the 296 people on board, the captain and 183 others survived.
Were the pilots scared? Well, they probably must have been very frightful as they were uncertain of a successful outcome.
However, if the landing was a normal one, then there was no cause for a pilot to be afraid. If, for whatever reasons, a pilot becomes fearful, he can always perform a go-around to recover his nerves.
Doing a go-around on a jet plane is a very safe maneuver. It involves pushing the thrust levers forward, retracting the flaps, raising the nose and the landing gears and have another go at the landing or divert to an airport with a more favorable weather.
Go-arounds are most often performed when a pilot is not able to see the runway at the decision height. Conventional wisdom tells us that a commander should not try a third time after a second failed attempt to land unless he is absolutely sure of success on the third one.
On 18 Aug 2015, the captain of a Jet Airways Boeing 737 made a desperate blind landing on his 7th attempt at the alternate Trivandrum Airport in India, risking the lives of 150 passengers and crew. If he had gone around, the plane would have crashed as it would have run out of fuel.
It was through sheer luck that the plane landed at the seventh attempts after doing an unprecedented 6 go arounds in 2 airports. The media had praised the captain’s heroic act in saving 150 lives but in reality, it was a self-induced reckless action.
They could have diverted to a safer airport instead of attempting to land in bad weather. For that, the commander was demoted to the rank of a co-pilot.
The question on what do pilots do if they get scared while landing, the answer is, he can always carry out a go-around.
I still remember this: Just think of the ‘5-Ups’ – Power Up, Nose Up, Flaps Up, Gear Up and Speak Up! (Please keep passengers informed!)
View a YouTube video United Airlines Flight 232 Crash in Sioux City
here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCTrs9mKmhc
View a YouTube Video by Mentour Pilot HOW could they let it GO THIS FAR?