Abort Landing

[AMF]

Last year,

I was flying into Gulfport, MS for a Christmas party at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi.

As we approached the coast, there was what seemed to be a LOW lying cloud COVERING the entire area (most meteorologists call that FOG) as we flew past the airport to turn around for a Southern facing landing, you couldn't see ANYTHING, the ONLY thing you could see was the cooling tower of the power plant. (which shows you just how low the clouds were).

As we descended for landing we started breaking into the fogs/clouds and you couldn't see squat. Then, I could barely makeout I-10 and thought (man, all the times I've landed here, we're awfully high to be landing at the airport, which is near the interstate).

well the fog got worse and you could see anything until you started to be able to makeout houses and such....THEN, what seemed to be 100 or so feet off the ground, it became apparent that the runway was on one heading and the plane's attitude was on a different heading (by about 30 degrees).....the pilot immediately jammed on the power and we pretty much executed a takeoff (we were VERY close to the ground).

All the people in the plane were wide eyed and white knuckled as the pilot came on saying..."folks it seems that the weather in Gulfport isn't going to allow us to land safely so we're rerouting to New Orleans...." we were all like "YA THINK!"

There wasn't a single person on the plane that complained.....that is until the airline left us parked at the terminal for almost 2 hours while they tried to figure out just what to do with everyone.

[meat]

Originally Posted by AMF

Last year,

I was flying into Gulfport, MS for a Christmas party at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi.

As we approached the coast, there was what seemed to be a LOW lying cloud COVERING the entire area (most meteorologists call that FOG) as we flew past the airport to turn around for a Southern facing landing, you couldn't see ANYTHING, the ONLY thing you could see was the cooling tower of the power plant. (which shows you just how low the clouds were).

As we descended for landing we started breaking into the fogs/clouds and you couldn't see squat. Then, I could barely makeout I-10 and thought (man, all the times I've landed here, we're awfully high to be landing at the airport, which is near the interstate).

well the fog got worse and you could see anything until you started to be able to makeout houses and such....THEN, what seemed to be 100 or so feet off the ground, it became apparent that the runway was on one heading and the plane's attitude was on a different heading (by about 30 degrees).....the pilot immediately jammed on the power and we pretty much executed a takeoff (we were VERY close to the ground).

All the people in the plane were wide eyed and white knuckled as the pilot came on saying..."folks it seems that the weather in Gulfport isn't going to allow us to land safely so we're rerouting to New Orleans...." we were all like "YA THINK!"

There wasn't a single person on the plane that complained.....that is until the airline left us parked at the terminal for almost 2 hours while they tried to figure out just what to do with everyone.

Well, THAT doesn't make any sense. Looking at the runway diagram, it appears that a southern approach on runway 18 in fog would be an incorrect thing to do. Runway 14/32 is the one that's ILS. A commercial carrier (as well as the tower) would know this.

Your pal,
Meat.

[Don]

Due to the congestion on the ground approaches to the runways from/to the terminals, crossing active runways , etc there was mention of using stop/go red/green lights embedded in the ground at the busier airports, has anyone seen these, or already in use ?

For those that recall the C-119 flying boxcar, lost an engine about 20 minutes after take off. Everyone had a parachute on and we were told to tighten the straps and get ready for a possible jump, we were not paratroopers. Pilot decided he could make it back and aborted the jump, wow, sure got everyones attention, and then boarded another C-119.

[AMF]

Originally Posted by meat

Well, THAT doesn't make any sense. Looking at the runway diagram, it appears that a southern approach on runway 18 in fog would be an incorrect thing to do. Runway 14/32 is the one that's ILS. A commercial carrier (as well as the tower) would know this.

Your pal,
Meat.

I'm just telling you what happened, I'm not a pilot or an ATC. I fly in an out of all sorts of airports that change the landing approach based on the pervailing winds. I've landed in Gulfport several times while approaching from the North. In fact, I don't know if I've ever landed while approaching from the South. The reason I know is because we always cross over I-10 right before landing.

[bomelia]

I have experienced several aborted landings. Worry not. Worry more about landings that should have been aborted, but were not.

Mike

[767Jockey]

I'm an airline pilot based in Newark. Go arounds are very common there. Usually in an effort to fit more aircraft into the same amount of tarmac, the controllers will occasionally bite off more than they can chew by spacing the aircraft too closely together, resulting inevitably in an aircraft landing and not being able to clear the runway before the one behind them lands. Once the trailing aircraft sees that the prior one won't clear in time, it's a go around. No big deal at all. Relax, it's an easy maneuver. Hey, it may have even been me doing it!

[Stentor]

Originally Posted by 767Jockey

I'm an airline pilot based in Newark. Go arounds are very common there. Usually in an effort to fit more aircraft into the same amount of tarmac, the controllers will occasionally bite off more than they can chew by spacing the aircraft too closely together, resulting inevitably in an aircraft landing and not being able to clear the runway before the one behind them lands. Once the trailing aircraft sees that the prior one won't clear in time, it's a go around. No big deal at all. Relax, it's an easy maneuver. Hey, it may have even been me doing it!

767, for which airline are you a pilot? Continental? I fly a lot in and out of Newark.

[767Jockey]

Originally Posted by Stentor

767, for which airline are you a pilot? Continental? I fly a lot in and out of Newark.

Yes, Continental. I hope you've flown us and we've treated you well.