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Original poster

Missed landings and other flight stories

118 replies

cherrypiepie · 03/11/2021 19:49

I was on a flight at the weekend that touched for half a second down then took off again straight away, it was pretty scary, and very confusing, shocking.

Cue me gripping the armrests and a hushed silence and prayers of 'god will save us' from the back row. A few oxygen masks came down. It had been pretty rough but not horrendously turbulent and I it was very cloudy with very low cloud and torrential rain so bad you couldn't even see if it was rain. I was observing BA the aircraft on the grounds in a weird little pen when we touched down once (normal expect a couple of thunks) then immediately engines roared and we were soon climbing again. We circled for about 15 Minutes then the captain explained it was a gust of wind just as we touch down that made it unsafe. About 30 minutes later we landed safely.

A Google search tells me this is a go around or a misled landing and is normal not an emergency.

I can't get over how odd and weird this was!

Any other weird flight stories?

OP posts:
Gumbo · 03/11/2021 20:41

Taking off in a massive thunderstorm from Johannesburg one night. We had only been airborne for less than a minute before there was an almighty bang and the whole plane lit up - we'd been struck by lightning! Nobody on the plane uttered a peep, we all just stared at the cabin crew with eyes like saucers waiting for any indication from them that we should panic. The crew just laughed and carried on chatting Grin

Crunchymum · 03/11/2021 20:41

I myself was on a Monarch flight from Greece to London, very soon after 9/11. As we were waiting to take off someone wearing overalls came on and started to gaffer tape up some of the inside of the cabin.

Flight was less than a 3rd full and I didn't leave my seat for the whole flight Sad

BettyOBarley · 03/11/2021 20:45

Yes I experienced a go-around years ago before I knew what one was. I hate flying too so it was just terrifying. The captain didn't say anything for ages (obviously busy I know!) and we didn't have a clue what was happening.

Had really bad turbulence for hours on end from Dubai to Sydney as well, it was awful .. thought it would never end.

Funnily enough I'm sat here watching Air Crash Investigations.. and then wonder why I hate flying... 🤔🤣

Original poster
cherrypiepie · 03/11/2021 20:46

@RubyTuesday70 exactly what happens to me!

OP posts:
Couldhavebeenme3 · 03/11/2021 20:46

@Cheermonger

I flew out of Leeds with my mum and we were about 30 mins in. Then captain came on to say air traffic control at Leeds thought they’d seen something fall off the plane as it took off, they couldn’t be certain but they wanted us to return to base just in case it was something important. But they couldn’t land till they’d burned some fuel so we had to go round and round for an hour. Honestly everyone was petrified and as we went down to land I thought I was going to die with fear. But all was fine. Except then the crew were out of time etc etc so it took forever to actually get to Lanzarote
Leeds/Bradford is the highest commercial airport in the UK and has some quite unusual weather/air conditions due to altitude and the fact its on top of a big hill. The runway is also on quite a slope. I've never done a go-around but by god the pilots don't half land heavily!

Have a look on YouTube for bad weather landings at LBA - I'd rather a pilot went round 5 times than risk a crosswind flipping the plane Sad

ShirleyPhallus · 03/11/2021 20:47

PLEASE do not stop these stories / experiences stop you flying, they are completely normal, routine things that pilots are well trained for

These really aren’t scare stories, pilots are perfectly well trained for go arounds and planes are very safe to be struck by lightning

buckleten · 03/11/2021 20:49

@Twospaniels

Not a flight, but a ferry. When I was at school we went to france for a weekend trip. The weather coming back was horrendous and the ferry was dipping and plunging. Everyone around was throwing up, except me 😇 When we approached Dover, the captain said we were unable to enter the port and would have to stay in the channel, however, we did enter the port and all was ok, but afterwards we heard that the ferry missed crashing into the harbour walls by only a few feet, and ours was the last ferry they let in for the next 8 hours. So glad we didn’t have to sit in the channel for 8 hours! Also, when we went below to get on the coach, we could see that several cars and vans had been thrown a bit and crashed into each other.
I think I was on this ferry too on a school trip, was it in the 80's? I can remember everyone laying around on seats and the floor and vomit everywhere!
minniemoll · 03/11/2021 20:49

Not me, but I was tracking my parents' flight from Dubai to Manchester a few years ago, in the middle of a big storm in February, and watched as it circled Manchester, several times, and made a failed landing (some kind person put a video on Twitter, that was just lovely to watch...) They eventually ended up at Gatwick and had to stay overnight and travel up by road the next day.

Mum says she regretted the champagne she'd been drinking...

Missed landings and other flight stories
BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 03/11/2021 20:54

I had a go around landing at London City Airport which was quite dramatic, there was a last minute sideways on gust of wind. I think it probably happens quite a bit there as there is only one runway and it's surrounded by water so they don't want to risk missing it.

I also had a flight back from Canada with the worst turbulence. We were all strapped in so it was fine from that point of view but when we were falling everything went weightless and things like bags were lifting off the floor slightly, and then we'd hit the bottom of the fall suddenly and it was really rough on the back and neck. I was a teenager then so got through it ok, I reckon if it happened at the age I am now I would need treatment afterwards.

Twospaniels · 03/11/2021 20:55

@buckleten

Yes it was probably about 1980 I think.

MiloAndEddie · 03/11/2021 20:55

Yes on a flight into Newark about 15 years ago, coming into land, felt about 10m off the ground before we banked back up really steeply and quickly. There was still a plane on our runway Confused

RoseRedRoseBlue · 03/11/2021 20:58

@ShirleyPhallus I am with you. I have experienced go arounds several times and it’s just one of those things.

Original poster
cherrypiepie · 03/11/2021 21:00

@ShirleyPhallus don't worry that was not the point of the thread.

I will be flying again. It was more to see how weird people found it!

OP posts:
Lollypop701 · 03/11/2021 21:02

Go rounds are common at knock in Ireland… weather is awful fairly often so pilots will have a go and if it’s not safe will tootle off to Shannon or Dublin. Not sure why the location of knock was ever chosen.

Have encountered bad unexpected turbulence on a flight to Munich … plane just dropped, and I fell over as I was waiting for the loo with 3yo DD. man in first class was being served wine, which he ended up wearing 🙈 I was told to sit down and strap in next to the very upset man, who listened to me singing a version on wheels on the bus for the next 15 minutes to distract DD.

Garriet · 03/11/2021 21:04

Yes had a go-around at Bristol airport a couple of months ago very similar to what you’ve described - touched down briefly then took off again and climbed sharply, took a while for a tannoy announcement which just said the pilot wasn’t satisfied it had been safe to continue the landing. Went back round and landed safely the second time. Never found out what was considered unsafe but might have been the weather which was a little on the windy side, though flight hadn’t been turbulent.

Because we didn’t know exactly what was wrong and why the landing was aborted, I must admit I did feel quite concerned that something iffy was going on. Nobody was particularly reassuring! So yes, weird and confusing is a good way to describe it. Though I was sat at the front of the plane so at least I could watch the cabin crew and they didn’t seem worried at all, if I hadn’t been able to keep an eye on them I think I’d have been an anxious mess.

Wizzbangfizz · 03/11/2021 21:06

Has happened to me twice and both times I nearly shit myself! Not fun at all!

BenjiMcSchmenzie · 03/11/2021 21:09

I’ve been on a prop plane that had to land at London City airport on one engine after the other one just cut out as we were starting our descent. It was a tad bumpy. Landed sideways due to high wind in a prop plane on a commuter route between Washington DC and Raleigh Durham - I thought I was going to die. And speaking of dying - a friend was sitting in the window seat when a man died in the aisle seat. She had to stay in her seat until they’d removed the body …

TomAllenWife · 03/11/2021 21:11

I had turbulence so bad on a flight Sydney - San Fran, I was in the toilet and was literally thrown against the door
I managed to get back to my seat, even the cabin crew had to stay seated for about an hour, I was terrified

Flight from JFK - LHR with dd, we were in business with a screen between us, in the middle of the night the plane dropped dramatically and shook from turbulence, me & dd didn't speak at all, we just lowered the screen and held hands so tight

Flight from Verona to Gatwick, took off in a terrible storm, the pilot said he'd 'give it a go', the take off was crazy, bobbing up and down with lightening flashing all around us

MaybeAMoaner · 03/11/2021 21:13

June 2014 at Majorca’s Airport
We all boarded a Ryan air flight. Seatbelts on and everything. When they announced that due to strikes they couldn’t move but that they also couldn’t let anyone off.

3 hours passed and everyone was sweating with the heat and being crammed into a tiny space.
Babies were crying.
Men were kicking off
Claustrophobes were heavy breathing into sick bags.
The cabin crew were trying to ration water.
People crying.
Eventually after 3 hours (felt like 3 days) we set off.

Sistedtwister · 03/11/2021 21:15

I live quite close to an airport and can report it happens more often than you would think. You can generally tell due to the noise and odd flight path.

Yogaandcocoa · 03/11/2021 21:15

There is nothing weird or scary about it, it’s routine and pilots are well practiced for them

It probably is scary if you don't really know what's going on or are experiencing such a thing for the first time.

jay55 · 03/11/2021 21:18

Flying in to Las Vegas in high winds, the plane couldn't land, had to go on to California, refuel and fly back and try again.

Was frustrating more than scary. Glad the pilot was cautious in the end.

Noseylittlemoo · 03/11/2021 21:18

I am a nervous passenger and I was really freaked out when this happened to us landing in Crete.
For some reason my partner and I had decided to do a race the day of our flight and we had been up since 5am. The flight was around 11pm landing in Crete in the early hours. So I was really tired which probably made my imagination more active! It felt like ages altho it was probably only a few minutes before the pilot announced the reason we hadn't landed was due to an animal- he thought a dog- on the runway!

PiggyPlumPie · 03/11/2021 21:19

DH was a flight from London to Aberdeen a couple of weeks ago. The plane landed and was slowing down when it sped up and took off again. The pilot had landed too far along the runway and was rapidly running out of room. Landed second time around about 15 minutes later.

Stroan · 03/11/2021 21:19

Had a go around like you have described at Glasgow Airport a few years ago, I was still a nervous flier and it was quite scary.

I didn't go on my first proper flight until I was 22 when a friend and I went to Dublin. It was so windy and as we landed there were fire engines racing alongside the plane. I've never had a good landing at Dublin but that was the worst!

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