Why Go-Arounds Save Lives: Lessons From Unstabilized Approaches

“Why didn’t the pilot go around?”

You hear this question a lot when there is a runway overrun—especially when it is a high-profile event such as Flight 7598, an Amazon Prime Air cargo airplane that crashed in Florida last week.

The jet ran off the end of Runway 30 at Miami International Airport (KMIA), through ground-based navigation aids, two fences, and struck a van and an SUV, resulting in multiple fatalities and serious injuries before the aircraft came to a stop in a parking lot and caught fire.

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Any time there is an accident like this it sends a ripple through the aviation training community. Determining aircraft performance is part of a pilot’s training from the beginning, or should be. I predict this tragedy will become a classroom tool, from the private pilot ground school up through airline pilot training.

Accident Factors

The National Transportation Safety Board is still compiling information on the event. The NTSB has not released the required landing distance for the aircraft since this data will be part of the investigation as it addresses the crew’s management of the flight.

How much runway did the jet require for a safe landing? The runway measures 9,360 feet long. The published available landing distance is 7,913 feet. Video of the jet shows it floating over the runway, going too fast for landing.

One of the first things a fledgling aviator learns is that when you have too much airspeed during final approach to landing, the aircraft will float, and you’ll eat up runway. This is why your CFI has you crunch performance numbers before each flight.

How much runway will be required for takeoff? How much for landing? Keep in mind those numbers change depending on aircraft weight and weather conditions. Every pilot should be briefed on this information, so there are no unpleasant surprises.

Staying ahead of the airplane is critical, especially in the pattern. Airspeed and aircraft configuration are key. Your job as pilot is to maintain proper speeds in the pattern, so you can land on the numbers and be down and safely stopped, usually on the first third of the runway. 

If you’re going too fast to make this happen, and you’ll know when you’re on final, it’s time to go around. This is also known as a “balked landing.”

Learning how to do this, and more importantly when, is critical. Unless you’re on fire, outrunning severe weather, or it is a dead-stick landing, you should initiate a go-around if the approach is not stable, as in on-speed, configured, and going to touch down on the predetermined spot.

Per the NTSB, information from the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) indicates one of the Prime Air pilots commented a few times that the aircraft was too fast during the approach, but there was no specific mention of the need to perform a go-around.

Another factor agency investigators are looking at is the power dynamic between the pilots. The captain had logged more flight time than the first officer, however, the first officer had more experience in the 767. It is possible that the first officer didn’t feel comfortable calling a go-around.

In this case, by the time the aircraft touched down, the pilots were out of runway and options. The FDR indicates the throttles were brought back up, as if for a go around, but it was too late. There wasn’t enough runway left for takeoff, so the power was brought back again. The NTSB  also noted that the speed brakes were not deployed.

If we learn anything from this accident, it is that unstabilized approaches can happen to any pilot at any certification level.

Strive for Stable From Start of Training

Stabilized approaches are discussed in private pilot ground school and introduced during your  first flight lesson. They should be practiced on a regular basis.

Especially when working with airline-aspiring pilots, I am a big believer in calling out airspeeds on each leg of the pattern with the understanding that being behind the airplane results in a rushed approach that often leads to a rushed and poor landing.

It is easy to fall out of this habit. You may catch yourself getting sloppy on approaches, then vow to clean it up.

To my fellow CFIs: Experienced pilots can surprise you. I flew with a commercial pilot who told me his practice was to not use flaps when flying the Cessna 172 until he was on short final, then he would dump them in—all 30 degrees. He said it had been more than 10 years since he had flown.

I was pretty sure something got lost in translation, and said so. He was adamant, so I had him take us up to 4,000 feet, then demonstrate his pattern technique with the understanding the cardinal compass headings were the traffic pattern legs and the “runway” was at 3,000 feet. 

When he dumped the flaps in the C-172, (as expected) it pitched up rapidly and entered a power-off stall much to his surprise. It was a teachable moment.

We spent the next 30 minutes practicing faux pattern at altitude and focusing on aircraft configuration, meaning flaps added incrementally, and maintaining appropriate airspeeds as indicated in the aircraft POH and on the landing checklist.

Touch-and-Goes and Go-Arounds

The practice of the touch-and-go helps perfect the “cleanup” part of the go-around. Power up, carburetor heat off, flaps up (incrementally), positive rate of climb, gear up (if appropriate), heat up (close cowl flaps if appropriate), and fess up.

Don’t confuse the order. So many pilots talk first, fly second. Please don’t be the pilot who drops the airplane to fly the radio.

Tips for Stable Approach

Per the FAA’s Airplane Flying Handbook, to maintain the desired flight path on approach, the application of power and pitch must work in concert.

The agency’s Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge and the prelanding checklist will indicate power settings and airspeeds to use. Review these numbers before flight, especially in a new-to-you airplane.

If you’re too fast to safely deploy flaps, reduce the power and hold pitch until you’ve slowed to flap-deployment speed. Always confirm the airspeed before deploying flaps.

In the training environment for a flap-equipped airplane, you may find it useful to verbalize the metrics for the approach with the understanding that if they get outside of the published numbers, a go-around is appropriate and always an option.

During training, many pilots, especially those on the CFI track, find it useful to verbalize the prelanding check: “Downwind abeam touchdown, power to (insert value) white arc confirmed, first notch of flaps, descending to (appropriate altitude for base turn) second notch of flaps, airspeed (insert metric) descending to (insert metric) altitude (turning base) final notch of flaps, on glide path for landing on the second stripe, airspeed (insert value), touchdown at (insert value).”

Caveat

To the pilots who aspire to multicrewed cockpits: Sooner or later you may encounter Captain Macho, the pilot who insists, “I can save it,” when the approach is too fast. Don’t be afraid to speak up and voice your concerns and call for a go-around.

If they yell at you, it’s a lot more likely that you will survive that than an aircraft going off the end of the runway.