Missed approach SYD Mon 22nd June

[docjames]

Also had one in SYD way back in 1987!

BA 747 Flight from SIN was transferred to MEL due to fog at SYD, we then spent the entire day cooped up (along with 4 other jumbo loads) in MEL, and when we finally got to SYD by about 5pm, we do a go-around because some clown in a private a/c had taxii'd onto the runway just as we we touching down. Pretty awesome doing a touch and go in a 747! With low fuel they sure can boogie on back up into the air!

 

[munitalP]

DJ334 Thursday 9 July

Powered up in final descent onto 27 and took an extended tour out over Werribee, Altona then landed onto 34

I think the gear was down - I can't be 100% sure, were close to the airport though - as soon as nose went upwards, you could see the terminal buildings


I am hoping CrazyDave will help out and let us know what happened!


Mr!

 

[Justinf]

JQ flight approaching OOL, about two years ago, when about 1000ft from the tarmac, the aircraft launched into a steep climb and did a go around, over the ocean and then landed. As we had pulled out of the climb, the captain said a DJ flight was on the tarmac, but had not taxied out of the way. Apparantely that flight made the ABC news that night.
Way back in 1990, QF flight had three landing attempts at Wellington in thick fog before being diverted to Auckland where we sat for four hours.

 

[markis10]

Seen plenty of go arounds from the tower (they are more common than you think), however one that stands out as a passenger for me was back in July 1992, when I caught the wrong flight and ended returning to America with North West rather than Sydney (another story for another time).

As we were about to touch down at JFK a TWA tristar was taking off but aborted, and caught fire after the right wing struck the ground. Our 747-400 promptly climbed once clean and eventually was diverted to Newark, which had just closed its International Terminal for the day when it got hit my a large number of JFK diverts. It turned out the accident was fatality free and I got home two days later than my bags :shock:.

 

[Killakoala]

I participated in an aborted landing last year QF SYD-HBA flight when traffic was still on the runway. Did a rough loop back out over the ocean and landed safely. Apparently another plane hadn't yet taken off and was milling around the end of the runway

Surely the ATC should be able to handle two aircraft simultaneoulsy, especially when they are the ONLY two aircraft in the vicinity?

 

[samh004]

I participated in an aborted landing last year QF SYD-HBA flight when traffic was still on the runway. Did a rough loop back out over the ocean and landed safely. Apparently another plane hadn't yet taken off and was milling around the end of the runway

Surely the ATC should be able to handle two aircraft simultaneoulsy, especially when they are the ONLY two aircraft in the vicinity?

ATC can handle the aircraft, but if someone doesn’t take off when they’re meant to, nothing ATC can do about it

 

[markis10]

Once you clear an aircraft for takeoff there is no set time for that aircraft to depart, there is an expectation that the aircraft will depart as quick as possible, but they have been given clearance to occupy that runway for as long as they need.

markis10 out

 

[Killakoala]

Once you clear an aircraft for takeoff there is no set time for that aircraft to depart, there is an expectation that the aircraft will depart as quick as possible, but they have been given clearance to occupy that runway for as long as they need.

markis10 out

Ah, well maybe the pilot was reluctant to leave Tasmania. I know that's how I usually feel when I board a plane to depart Hobart.

It must be annoying for the pilot trying to land though, having to go through the landing procedure twice.

 

[Jacques Vert]

I don't fly as often as many on this site yet I have experienced a number of go-arounds.

The first was many years ago on an Eastern J21 approaching Taree. In those day there was only a curtain between the pax and the pilots. I was sitting in the seat behind the 1st officer.

On final approach, the radar went off and I could see "collision immanent" on the screen. Apparently a light aircraft had decided to taxi onto the runway for take-off without following procedure and we were about to land on the sam e runway. We went around and I watched the light aircraft take off out of the window.

I also had an aborted landing at Coffs Harbour a few years back when on final approach in VERY poor weather with the wheels down the pilot couldn't get a visual and aborted the landing.

Fortunately we had a pax with a great sense of human who decided to mock the SYD rail service with an announcement along these lines: "bing, ding, bong; the next plane on platform one stops at Woolgoolga, thence Grafton, Yamba and all stations to Coffs Harbour". This was followed by regular "updates" keeping everyone entertained.

Then, last year I had a flight to PQQ (again in very, VERY poor weather and the airport was flooded. We made a serious attempt to land, then aborted. Over the next 1.5 hours we made three more approaches but none of which were very serious. Then one last attempt to land which was aborted at the last minute!
We flew back to SYD, boarded another plane and tried again (this time with a much more aggressive pilot).

On final approach s/he found a gap in the weather and we went on the attack; dropping in below the cloud and performing a heavy (and somewhat sideways landing). I understand that plane was unable to take off until MUCH later that day. we had to get a bus from the airport to a higher level carpark as the floodwaters were too deep for cars.

What is the moral of the story? If the pilot has ANY concern about landing the plane in the prevailing conditions then s/he should go around; no pilot should ever be criticised for putting the safety of their aircraft & pax first.,

JV

 

[Jacques Vert]

I don't fly as often as many on this site yet I have experienced a number of go-arounds.

The first was many years ago on an Eastern J21 approaching Taree. In those day there was only a curtain between the pax and the pilots. I was sitting in the seat behind the 1st officer.

On final approach, the radar went off and I could see "collision immanent" on the screen. Apparently a light aircraft had decided to taxi onto the runway for take-off without following procedure and we were about to land on the sam e runway. We went around and I watched the light aircraft take off out of the window.

I also had an aborted landing at Coffs Harbour a few years back when on final approach in VERY poor weather with the wheels down the pilot couldn't get a visual and aborted the landing.

Fortunately we had a pax with a great sense of human who decided to mock the SYD rail service with an announcement along these lines: "bing, ding, bong; the next plane on platform one stops at Woolgoolga, thence Grafton, Yamba and all stations to Coffs Harbour". This was followed by regular "updates" keeping everyone entertained.

Then, last year I had a flight to PQQ (again in very, VERY poor weather and the airport was flooded. We made a serious attempt to land, then aborted. Over the next 1.5 hours we made three more approaches but none of which were very serious. Then one last attempt to land which was aborted at the last minute!
We flew back to SYD, boarded another plane and tried again (this time with a much more aggressive pilot).

On final approach s/he found a gap in the weather and we went on the attack; dropping in below the cloud and performing a heavy (and somewhat sideways landing). I understand that plane was unable to take off until MUCH later that day. we had to get a bus from the airport to a higher level carpark as the floodwaters were too deep for cars.

What is the moral of the story? If the pilot has ANY concern about landing the plane in the prevailing conditions then s/he should go around; no pilot should ever be criticised for putting the safety of their aircraft & pax first.,

JV

 

[jb747]

It's sort of amusing reading the comments about go arounds....things like the aircraft being put into the steepest climb you'd ever experienced, or discussion about 'pulling g'.

The attitude and power seem to be extreme only because they have changed a lot from what they were a few seconds ago. Go around power in the Boeings isn't even full charge, simply enough to give a 2000 fpm rate of climb. Pitch attitude will be around 15° and perhaps up to 20° on a light aircraft. Attitude on something like a 767 after take off can get up to around 23°.

It's the big change from what was a relatively stable situation a few seconds ago, to the dynamics of a go around that you're feeling...the attitudes and power settings are normally less than you've experienced many times in a take off.

When I flew the 767, I averaged about one go around per year (over 12 years). Reasons varied enormously. Some reasons...ATC, aircraft in front aborted, aircraft in front too slow to respond to take off, aircraft landing ahead missed expected taxiway, windshear, flap asymmetry, not visual at minima, not happy with the approach/conditions, crosswind out of limits. In five years on the 747 I only performed two, one for crosswind out of limits, and the other for windshear.

They are such a normal part of aviation that, in training, more approaches result in go arounds than landings. It's amusing when they appear in the newspapers, as it shows the incredible lack of aviation knowledge that they posses. A go around is performed to avoid something nasty, but in itself it is a total non event.

 

[bossreggie]

Thanks so much for your intelligent insight jb747.

Even though I fly so regularly.....I am a very nervous flyer. I really appreciate your explanation of the "go around". I was involved in one several years ago and I was quite frightened. The main reason I was scared is that there was no announcement from the flight deck or the CSM at any stage. In your experience.. Is this due to the flight crew being really busy or some other reason?

Once again thanks so much for your reply. It has made me feel a bit better.
Shaun

 

[markis10]

Go arounds/missed approach's are usually done at short notice to all involved, and the workload in the coughpit as well as the tower/approach is high, preventing notice being given to the non active participants (cabin crew and pax), the last thing I would expect a crew to do would be to get on the blower to explain why they are so busy.

Both pilots and ATC need to be very alert owing to an aircraft all of a sudden not being where it was meant to be, take the dual runways at Sydney, a go around on 16R could very well interfere with an approach/departure on 16L or the E/W runway, if that go around was because of a slow departure you need to factor that aircraft into the mix as well.

 

[jb747]

Even though I fly so regularly.....I am a very nervous flyer. I really appreciate your explanation of the "go around". I was involved in one several years ago and I was quite frightened.

You aren't alone in being a nervous flyer. I suspect something like 30% of the people on any flight fall into that category. I guess for many it's the fact that they are totally cut off from information on what is happening, and for most their prior sources are limited to whatever the newspapers print...so people think go-arounds are dangerous, when, in fact, they are the opposite.

The main reason I was scared is that there was no announcement from the flight deck or the CSM at any stage. In your experience.. Is this due to the flight crew being really busy or some other reason?

It can be a very busy time. Firstly you have to just handle the aircraft, and get it cleaned up and going to where it should be. The GA track will almost certainly be something different to anything you've flown before (i.e. they aren't normally the track you'd fly on a departure), and they can be quite complex. You'll need to take care of the after take off checklist, and then immediately back into the descent/approach checklists, and of course you need to set it all up so that you can either come back and do it again, or head off to your divert field. There can be lots of back and forward with ATC too.

None of this happens automatically, so the pilots are very busy. Getting a quick PA in is very desirable, but I can see cases when you just won't have time. Last GA that I did resulted in a diversion to another country, to an airfield that I'd never been to, so PAs aren't high on the list of things to do. CSMs don't really have any idea what has happened, so it isn't really their place to say too much.