You are on a plane that is finally on its final approach. You expect the wheels to touch the runway in the next minute or two... Suddenly, you hear the engines roar with power, you are pressed back into your seat, and you notice the nose of the plane pitch sharply upward.What is happening?
The pilots are performing a "go-around". For some reason, continuing the landing was no longer deemed safe, so the maneuver is aborted. This is done quite abruptly to return the aircraft to a higher energy state as quickly as possible, since it will need to continue flying for a while longer.
The reasons for a go-around can vary:
- Severe Weather: Conditions at the exact moment of landing might include visibility that is too low, or winds that are too strong and unstable (windshear).
- Air Traffic Control Instructions: A controller might order a go-around because of something that suddenly made the landing unsafe, such as an obstruction on the runway (another plane that hasn't cleared yet, or a vehicle).
- Unstabilized Approach: To ensure maximum safety, the margins of error allowed by aviation procedures are extremely slim. If, shortly before landing, all parameters (speed, descent rate, configuration) are not perfectly correct, the pilots are required to abort the maneuver, even if a safe landing would still be technically possible.
- Sudden Technical Issues: An unexpected fault might require the pilots' full attention. In such cases, it is safer to return to a higher altitude to troubleshoot exactly what is happening before attempting the landing again with everything under control.