Several years ago, my wife and I were flying to the U.S. Virgin Islands for a little mid-winter R&R sans kids. Moments before anticipated touchdown at St. Thomas’ Cyril E. King Airport, it flashed through my mind that the airplane was landing long. Almost at that same moment, we heard and felt the roar of the engines as the pilots opted to go around and try again. A little spooked, my wife asked what had just happened. As I explained the concept of a go-around she started to laugh. After years of patiently listening to me blather on about this or that technology or process, she found it funny that “go-around” really is a technical term.
But go-arounds are no laughing matter. Runway excursions account for one-third of all accidents, and the greatest risk factor for excursions is the unstable approach. An unstable approach should result in a go-around, but usually does not. In fact, according to Foundation research, only 3 percent of all unstable approaches result in go-arou…
