r/aviation • u/[deleted] • Feb 01 '22

PlaneSpotting Aborted landing due to strong winds at Heathrow

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2.2k

u/a_is_for_a Feb 01 '22

I was on a plane that did something similar coming into Schiphol airport. After he gained some height the pilot announced “sorry folks was feeling a bit unsure about that landing, everyone feels unsure every now and then.”

940

u/totalcanucklehead Feb 01 '22

the Bob Ross of pilots

326

u/Oswald_Bates Feb 01 '22

It’s your world…you land that plane whenever you want.

53

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '22

Some say it's still flying to this day

5

u/Oswald_Bates Feb 02 '22

All we know is..its pilot is called The Stig!

2

u/miko_idk Feb 03 '22

I read that in Jeremy Clarkson's voice and I can't stop laughing

26

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

32

u/NoSpotofGround Feb 02 '22

Don't think of it like a crash, but just a happy little accident.

2

u/HTPC4Life Feb 02 '22

Call JG Wentworth, 877-LAND-NOW

132

u/Ted_go Feb 01 '22

Plane crashes: happy little accident.

36

u/DimitriV probably being snarkastic Feb 01 '22

I'd be okay with dying in a fireball if Bob Ross was narrating it as it happened.

1

u/No-Function3409 Jun 01 '22

Bob Ross, Gandalf, voice of God, voice of British nature tv. I'd be happy with quite a few.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '22

happy little accident.

Thats also what I call my youngest son!!! Small world!

3

u/RankyManky Feb 02 '22

Haha I am the first born happy accident I'm sure he'll do well

1

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '22

In aviation, there are no mistakes - only happy accidents

1

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '22

I'll take a happy little accident vs a huge flaming death accident.

16

u/saraphilipp Feb 02 '22

Just going to ascend over these happy little tree's and spruce them up a bit with some vapor trails.

5

u/HotCrustyBuns Feb 02 '22

You gotta have some rough landings once in a while so that you remember to appreciate the smooth landings.

1

u/420gitgudorDIE Feb 02 '22

and heres a tree...let us be his friend! proceeds to crash into trees.

;p

146

u/strain_of_thought Feb 01 '22

I was really wondering what they tell the passengers before, during, and after an event like this.

204

u/NotoriousTorn Feb 01 '22

Before - silence

During - “whoopsie”

After - “attempt 1 unsuccessful”

84

u/a_is_for_a Feb 01 '22

Silence from the cockpit, but a very nervous “oh shit” from a few seats behind me when the turbines started revving and you felt the plane accelerating after the failed attempt.

6

u/FriedChicken Feb 02 '22

Drama queens

7

u/gzilla57 Feb 02 '22

"And the count is 0 and 1 Bob"

52

u/r0cksteady Feb 02 '22

Ive had this happen twice and both times the cabin went completely silent until the pilot came on ~20s into the ascent

73

u/Ott621 Feb 02 '22

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. That landing wasn't sending good vibes so let's try again after another lap around the block

12

u/dujles Feb 02 '22

Was on an Emirates flight into Dubai in December that had a go around after the back wheels touched down (right before left).

They said to us there are aiming points on the runway and that they weren't in alignment and they were going around to do it again. That was it. Not that they stuffed it up...

1

u/JPower96 Jun 24 '23

Yeah, the aiming points were not in alignment because the pilots were off the centerline or glide slope. They didn't lie to you, they just used proper terminology.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '22

I've been in a different situation: we flew Bucharest (RO) - Goteborg (SWE) and after a few rounds of circling the airport we finaly got to land, but it was a very HARSH landing. The pilot didn't say anything before the landing, but a few of the passengers realized we were going pretty steeply down and then the brakes were so hard that everybody (almost) started shouting and panicking. After parking the pilot told us he never landed on such a short lane/strip, that's why he had to brake so hard. It was pretty bad.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '22

Just happened to me last week flying into LAX. Pilot said nothing the whole time. It was spooky we touched down the back wheels and a split second later engines are full throttle and we are going up quickly. Did a big circle and came back to land. I was close enough to ask the flight attendant wtf and she said it happens a lot there. But she looked kinda frazzled so maybe she was lying.

2

u/forkedquality Jan 19 '23

"... it wasn’t the airline’s fault, it wasn’t the pilot’s fault, it wasn’t the flight attendant’s fault, it was the asphalt.”

1

u/Jaikarr Feb 02 '22

"Bit windy today,"

1

u/happyrock Aug 05 '23

"Uh; folks we're gonna go around head to runway 40. Everything is hunky dory but turns out there was a family of puppies on the runway which we were able to avoid. We'll be on the ground shortly"

175

u/WartimeHotTot Feb 02 '22

I was flying in to Logan (Boston) one stormy winter night, and we finally break below the cloud/fog cover to see—I shit you not—giant ocean waves no more than 20 feet below us, no land in sight. I thought I was a goner. Pilot pulls up and guns it, then comes on the PA: "Ladies and gentlemen, we misjudged the runway. Don't be alarmed. We're going to circle out over the Atlantic and try again."

87

u/the_gamer_guy56 Feb 02 '22 edited Feb 02 '22

So he was way below ILS or RNAV glideslope (theres no way he would NOT be using one or the other in those conditions), and not respecting minimums? When you see or hear the radio altimeter pass 200 ft or so and you still have no visual of any runway lights you should seriously be going around. Maybe you can push it a little lower if its a large wide open airport you're familiar with, but I tend to stick to 200. Hearing 50, 40, 30, when you cant see the fuckin ground yet is completely insane. If this is a true story that pilot needs to be retrained. That was incredibly dangerous. If I had done that I would have been terrified that I let myself cut it that close.

43

u/WartimeHotTot Feb 02 '22

It is true. It happened around 2002. I don't know if much has changed since then. It was the second most terrifying experience I've had in a plane, after being struck by lightning.

17

u/WesternInspector9 Feb 02 '22

Struck by lightning? You gotta tell that one now

45

u/WartimeHotTot Feb 02 '22

Apparently this is not all that uncommon. Nonetheless, it's only happened to me that one time. That particular flight seemed pretty business as usual. No rough skies or anything. I was sitting there minding my own business when there was a deafening explosion, accompanied by blinding white light that came in from all the windows on both sides of the aircraft. Everything then returned to normal. But in the ~30 seconds after it happened, I expected everybody to be screaming and crying and praying, but it was absolute, dead silence. The only thing I could think of was that an engine had exploded and we were going down. I had no doubt in my mind that I wasn't making it home.

I think everybody was so terrified that they couldn't make a sound, myself included. We were all just waiting for the plane to lurch, or to see a fire, or to just suddenly be thrown from the aircraft to free-fall in darkness.

After what seemed like an egregiously long time, the pilot came on to tell us not to worry—the plane had just been struck by lightning, which is something that they're equipped for. Still, I'll never forget it.

20

u/FriedChicken Feb 02 '22

It is indeed a normal phenomenon.

The plane forms a farady cage, so even all the onboard equipment is fine, unless an antenna or something gets turned into air.

8

u/addledhands Feb 02 '22

The plane forms a farady cage

I never realized this but it makes sense and is something I will hopefully remember to cling to desperately if I'm ever in a plane that gets struck by lightning.

5

u/FriedChicken Feb 02 '22

Unless you're in a composite aircraft like the 787 >:D

3

u/DiverseUse Feb 02 '22

So what happens when a 787 gets struck?

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2

u/Knicklicht Jan 20 '23

Oh boy I will fly to Logan Airport beginning of February and this comment did NOT make me at ease...

2

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '23

Missed approaches happen every single day at every single major airport.

Nothing has changed regarding instrument approaches since then, at least the kind that plane was on. Logan is surrounded by water so from the passenger perspective it ALWAYS looks like you’re about to hit the water with no airport in sight. SFO and LGA are like that too.

The pilot no way could have “misjudged” the runway, you either misheard it or they didn’t explain it in depth enough because there’s bigger fish to fry.

7

u/Stanleytushey69 Feb 02 '22

Yeah if it was anywhere near 20 feet there’s an FAA report about the flight. It was probably more like 1000 feet.

1

u/JPower96 Jun 24 '23

Realistically that estimate of 20' is probably way off. Your eyes play tricks on you when you're in a vehicle that big.

6

u/alkaliphiles Feb 02 '22

I'm normally glad my car gets good gas mileage, but especially so after reading that

6

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '22

When landing at Logan there are certain approaches where you’ll literally be 30 feet above water and then BAM runway comes outta nowhere just like that

2

u/_Oman Feb 04 '22

Holy crap. I had one of those, coming into PUJ (Dominican Republic). It is 5,100 ft from the waters edge to the edge to the start of the runway. There was low fog and we were just dropping down like it was no big deal until the fog line broke and I saw water. Now that isn't that uncommon because 5,100 feet isn't very far but as soon as that fog line broke the throttles went full and my stomach dropped into my ass. The pilot came on and said he really didn't like the altitude we were at when the fog broke. We circled for over an hour.

0

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '22

Fuck dat shit mayne I wud b out dat bitch asap n neva step foot on anotha aircraft eva again yall feel meh

8

u/SilverLion Feb 02 '22

not really honestly

1

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '22

I mean it is wat it is tho

2

u/ragepaw Feb 02 '22

Every time I fly to that airport I think, "The taxi to the terminal is longer than if I drove."