Missed landings and other flight stories

[cherrypiepie]

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?

We were taxiing to the runway, plane turned around lining up to take off. There was a thud, a wobble, a revving but we didn't move. Turned out the front wheel had slipped off the taxi way and the plane got stuck in the mud.

We did not go home that day, nor did anyone else. It took them 30hrs to ship in the vehicles they needed to drag a plane out of the mud 🤦‍♀️

@CorpusCallosum

We were taxiing to the runway, plane turned around lining up to take off. There was a thud, a wobble, a revving but we didn't move. Turned out the front wheel had slipped off the taxi way and the plane got stuck in the mud.

We did not go home that day, nor did anyone else. It took them 30hrs to ship in the vehicles they needed to drag a plane out of the mud 🤦‍♀️

A bit of dampness/water on the paint markings on the taxiway/runway can make them as slippery as …….add to that the fact that on many types there’s not much weight bearing down on the nosewheel to help it grip and there’s recipe for sliding sideways…..

Had what I can only assume was a full instrument only landing in Zurich the other year where you could barely see the ground from being sat in the plane because of the fog, so the tarmac there came as a bit of a surprise. Have also had a go around at JFK and judging by the tales on here they are more common than I thought, though I know it’s a well practised manoeuvre. Not bothered by a bit of turbulence here. Just adds to the interest on a flight.

I've been on an aborted go around!

Coming into land at Kirkwall on Orkney, tiny little prop plane, just about to touch down when a gust caught us and tilted the plane sideways.

Engines rev, we start to climb but level out and pilot likely though fuck it I've got this and next thing we're bouncing down the runway crab fashion!

Plane came to a stop and nobody moved 😂

This happened to us when landing in Tenerife. Wheels down, near touchdown and suddenly we whooshed back up again. The pilot announced that his co-pilot had done a great job in avoiding hitting the plane that was parked across the runway and that hopefully next time we would miss it. I don't know how close we came but he actually did sound nervous. It didn't help that it wasn't long since the Tenerife air disaster.

A few years ago a plane coming into northern Maine should have done a go around but instead decided to go for it - this was their second attempt at landing and it was lightly snowing, which is normal weather conditions for that airport.

They landed about 100 feet away from the runway in deep snow.

They then had to get snowploughs to dig through the snow to get to the plane and let the passengers off.

Go arounds are Good Things.

I’m pretty blasé about flying. The various pilots in my family have done thousands of landings with no incidents.

OTOH I’ve lost several family members to car crashes.

@ZZTopGuitarSolo

A few years ago a plane coming into northern Maine should have done a go around but instead decided to go for it - this was their second attempt at landing and it was lightly snowing, which is normal weather conditions for that airport.

They landed about 100 feet away from the runway in deep snow.

They then had to get snowploughs to dig through the snow to get to the plane and let the passengers off.

Go arounds are Good Things.

Is this the one:

aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20190304-0

Yes two failed landings coming into Gatwick during stormy weather
Third time lucky
Felt so sick from all the turbulence

Never had a good landing in Ireland, I used to fly back and forth all the time. The worst was flying into Shannon, the pilot tried three times to land almost touching down before telling us the weather was too bad, and as conditions in Dublin and cork were just as bad he decided to land us in Cardiff. That was one horrible flight. Not allowed to take our seatbelts off but despite that it was like being bounced about in a can.

At Cairns in a tiny Cessns (just me and the pilot,) about to go over the Great Barrier Reef - going along the runway seemed awfully bumpy, and we didn't seem to be gaining height, and there was a fence ahead. At this point the pilot said, we're just turning round, and after a check, we'll try again. Apparently there was some problem with early morning moisture causing some flapping bit to stick, instead of doing its necessary flapping thing. Anyway, we were soon off again, and it was fab, but I was a bit apprehensive on the first attempt.

I was on a flight back from Ibiza in the 80s and it was very turbulent coming into East Mids. Shortly before landing I developed excruciating jaw pain. The plane was being tossed around and had to go around. We landed safely but I still had the jaw pain for 25 hrs after. Strangely I quite enjoyed the experience (apart from the pain) but now I hate flying!

I have quite a shocking and scary plane story, but I'd have to namechange as all my friends know about it.

In the meantime, what IS it about Jo'burg airport? We've had engine failure, lightening strike, a baboon running into the engines when we're about to take off, turbulence causing the plane to fly sideways...

Whenever we fly, I always have a few glasses of Champagne beforehand. It's our routine. We tell the DC it's to celebrate the start of our holidays, but really it's because I need to get drunk to actually get on the plane .

Something similar happened to me on an inward flight to Lhr earlier this yearlanding about 430pm

The tyres had already touched the ground and just immediately went back up

Utter silence in the air .. I just held my two kids in fear.. I felt lightheaded

In my over 30 yrs of flying I had never seen such ..

The captain said a plane had just landed and was still taxiing on the runway

If we hadn't flown back up we might have crashed into it

I’m ex cabin crew.
Had lots of ‘go arounds’ at LHR. That airport is amazing as well as nuts in equal measures. It’s amazing to watch at night when you can see the aircraft lights coming into landing and how uniform apart the lights are. Go around happen when the runway isn’t clear or it isn’t safe to land.
I’ve had a 40ft near miss out of Paris, the engines cut out over Moscow. Have been hit by lightning over Frankfurt.
Here I am after 15 years of flying, still alive to tell the tales.

Is this the one:

aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20190304-0

Yes that’s it - totally missed the runway.

I've experienced aborted take offs and landings many times, it is a little disconcerting I agree.

Worst thing to happen was hitting an air pocket over the Atlantic and dropping several thousand feet in a few seconds. I always wear my seatbelt but after that I make sure my family do too!

Not a landing but the worst flight I've ever been on was on quite a small plane going from Manchester to Inverness. It was incredibly windy and the turbulence was awful. We were being thrown around in our seats, even with our seat belts on, and someone fell into the aisle.

A small child started shouting "we're all going to die!" which didn't help. I was travelling with my friend and we just held hands and stared straight in front of us.

Flying out to New York many years ago, it was my first time on a plane and I was travelling on my own. The plane started to taxi out to the runway when we could smell fuel, the pilot announced we were heading back to the terminal to see what was causing the smell.

The next thing the air stewardess had a call from the pilot on the phone she dropped the receiver, stood on her seat and shouted everyone off the plane now. We had to make an emergency exit off the plane going down the inflatable slides. Firemen and police were everywhere. Turns out the back of the plane was on fire and the pilot of the plane behind us spotted it.

Flew out the next day with no worries.

@LeonoraFlorence I have lots left over from when I lived in Spain and my GP prescribed it for panic attacks as well as flying - Happily I’ve recovered my mental health and only take it for flying and as I hardly fly at all, I have enough to last me a while! It’s magic stuff.

Had to do a series of approaches in similar conditions in Corsica, finally got in, but only just, in severe crosswinds and downdraughts. When on the ground the Cpatain appeared, smiled and said “well that was a bit sporty” - huge understatement.

Also - Inbound Luton on Turkish Airways, he totally missed the piano keys at the end and put down mid-runway, too late, couldn’t stop at the end, took a left hand turn at high speed, screeching wheels and overheads all banged open - would be surprised if it was able to take off for the return leg without some hours of engineering checks.

Won’t mention the 3 terrorists on a UK bound flight from Antalya who told us all “the plane was going down” and the ensuing hysteria from all the onboard mums and children. The Thomas Cook captain rightly refusted to take off - but it took all night to resolve.

@WeAreTheHeroes

Something similar happened to me on an internal flight about to land at Heathrow about 20 years ago. A vehicle was in the wrong place, i.e. on the runway, so the landing was aborted. We went back up again at a very steep angle and a lot of engine noise. It was quite scary. We landed normally a few minutes later.

Same thing happened to us. It all happened so fast it was confusing. The thing that impressed me most was the huge roaring noise of the engines and the really steep angle. The Captain came on the PA system quite quickly to tell us what happened. It was another big plane on the runway!

I used to fly (pre DC) it’s completely normal and practised all the time. You effectively use your power and remaining speed to get out of trouble and try again. When training, you’d get within 2ft of the deck before the instructor would reapply power and you’d go round to practise your approach and landing again - not actually hitting the ground saves repeatedly stressing the landing gear.

I had an aborted landing at Gibraltar once. For those that don't know, it's a runway that sticks out into the sea at both ends with a road in the middle that leads to/from the rock itself. Then on top of the rock sticking up there's historical disagreements with Spain who won't allow the planes into Spanish airspace. Foul weather causing very Strong crosswinds I guess were the reason for aborting at the last minute. It was bloody terrifying. Practically vertical lift off with a sharp bank I think to the left at the same time, buffeted by very strong winds. So much so, someone on the plane died whilst this was going on. Took me a couple of years to get over that.
Then another time I was flying back into Gatwick on a 747 which got struck by lightning a short while before we landed. You knew it was bad because the pilot didn't make any announcements and the cabin crew went very quiet. We landed without incident thankfully, escorted down the runway by several fire engines. No idea what actually happened, but it must have been very serious. I guess we lost an engine.

I've done a lot of flying over the past 20 years as an adult. Short and long haul, in planes as small as a turboprop 6 seater and as large as Airbus A380 or Boeing 787.

There's been plenty of turbulence, and hitting air pockets where we have suddenly dropped a bit. Thunderstorms both on the ground and in the air. Very heavy winds while sitting on the ground, shaking the plane so we wondered if we would actually be allowed to go.

Travelling to Paris once on the red-eye morning flight (6.30am departure), but Paris had fog, so we pulled away from the terminal and sat in the cargo area for almost 4 hours (the 9.30am flight was also lined up beside us at that stage). Paris airspace cleared, but our plane went "tech" when they started the engines again - so the later flight departed and we were towed back to the terminal where we were disembarked as a fire crew examined the plane. We were about to board the plane beside our original plane, when that also had a problem, so after another 2 hour delay (where we finally got a voucher to get a sandwich and cold drink - no hot ones as we were about to board again!!), we reboarded our ORIGINAL plane at 1.30pm and left shortly before 2pm (minus a few passengers who had missed their connections or would be too late for meetings so decided not to travel). I was just glad we got there in the end (and that this was a weekend in Paris trip, not like the one 3 months later on the same 6.30am flight where we were among those connecting to a long haul flight in CDG).

I've had plenty of hard landings, and also a good few go-arounds. The wind coming off Lake Geneva can often be gusty and they only have 1 runway so landings are often aborted there - and the fun part is that you then have to go out through the mountains again and fly right around to the pass through the mountains to make another try as there isn't enough room to do that inside the mountain range (sometimes you come in straight on to the runway through 1 gap and make the turn left as you take off to go out the other gap - but they occasionally go the opposite so you turn right to land and take off going straight ahead). I've had at least 5 or 6 journeys with go arounds there, 1 had 2 attempts before we actually landed on attempt 3 (the pilot did say afterwards that we would have gone elsewhere if it wasn't 3rd time lucky).

We've also been diverted to Shannon to get back to Dublin by bus, once.

And I've seen some other planes quite close up some days/nights.

Although the scariest for me was the time I flew with a connection through LHR on 5th November, and there were fireworks going off all over the place and seemed quite close to the planes when we were low for descending in (and it seemed like a particularly sharp takeoff angle that day - and I've done some sharp takeoffs!!).