Plane landing

[Atadconfussed]

Trigger warning flying for those that may not be keen … x

Am I being unreasonable to think that the below was a bit concerning / any pilots want to enlighten me?!
have flown a lot when younger / pre children but felt this was different

budget airline flight, approx 300 passengers Boeing 737
landing very wobbly on approach ( think close to runway)
huge bang on landing / touch down landing gear
worst bit!!! Very very intense what felt like attempts to break without slowing …. Loudest reverse thrust noise ever and the cabin shaking so so much
I felt pinned back in my seat and awaited a huge issue!
afterwards everyone was studded … one women crying and a few choice words heard through the cabin….
Thoughts please

@Georgyporky
When you say ‘use instruments to land in fog’, I presume you mean to do an automatic landing. It’s not possible to do an automatic landing in FNC (Madeira) as the approach to the runway is extremely tricky. This is due to high ground and a curved approach, and most often very strong winds from different directions - which can also cause an unstable approach close to the ground. (Try watching Funchal approaches on YouTube if you are interested!)

So when there is very low cloud in FNC, you are not allowed to land as you can’t see to do the curved approach towards the runway.

Automatic landings can only be done at airports that have invested in the expensive equipment on the ground that helps to guide aircraft in very precisely. And the aircraft also have to have the instrumentation on them to be able to use that equipment. So generally autolands are only possible at bigger, usually international, airports.

If you want to spend a really interesting half hour, have a browse through the Aviation Herald page. It documents every plane incident around the world, every day, from minor to catastrophic.

avherald.com

The reason air travel is so safe is because the world got its act together years ago and agreed to report absolutely everything. The culture of openness led to vastly improved air safety.

It has been said that if the NHS ran along the same lines in terms of openness in reporting of incidents, it would also be vastly safer for patients.

Wait until you experience an aborted landing...

A go around? It's usually not a biggie, just taking off again really...

I have nothing to add about airports or landings.

but I have so enjoyed reading this thread! It made a long, boring journey much more entertaining.

Was your last flight back in the 1980s? Sounds like it from your post....

That reminds me of our first trip to the US on a cheap charter flight into Newark, New Jersey. About 10 minutes beofre landing the pilot came on and told us we had been allocated the short runway as the longer runway was out of use, No call for alarm folks, it just means that we put it down and stop it! It felt we we were going to be pushed out of the rear, it was so harsh!

A good landing is one you can walk away from, the winds today have been very strong, that may have had an influence,

…actually, you’re not!

This is very interesting thank you … Miami flight on NYD when 9 people became ill !

Gib was a great place to land when the border was closed by the Spaniards when the wind meant the landing was over the bay. The rules were that the plane had to come along the centre line of the bay then turn and corkscrew down to the runway, There were occasions when they fell off the opposite end of the runway!

@SabbatWheel that’s super interesting! My DH is a pilot and says the same about the NHS and safety reporting, and how many errors there are that lead to patient death!

OK had to scroll back to find that:

"Somewhere upthread, instrument landing in fog was mentioned.
I flew into Madeira recently & twice the attempt at landing was aborted because of low cloud. We ended up in Fuerteventura, via Porto Santo , overnight.
Any ideas why landing with instruments is OK in fog, but not cloud ?"

There might be some terminology issues plus some techy stuff that causing confusion. I think the issue is not so much instruments as airports - you were at Madeira, I can't see the other quote but I assume it was another airport.

Fundamentally fog/cloud are pretty much the same thing, and if you can't see out the windscreen you'll look inside and fly around "on instruments"....

At some airports (with basic equipment on the ground ) you can't descend below 200 feet ( it varies, it can be much higher) if you can't see the runway..I'd imagine Madeira might be such an airport.

It's very different at some of the major airports which are equipped for operation in poor visibility - at those places if you have a correctly equipped aircraft with the crew fully training you can do an automatic landing in really thick fog.

Lol, really? I've never heard this.

Mind you, they DO claim to give passengers more bang for their buck.

God yes! Sea on three sides of the runway and the other side dense high-rise apartment blocks with mountains behind. You could see through the windows of the apatments!

Another landing story. My late DH and I were returning from Budapest, in a small plane, with few passengers among whom were a clearly hungover group of young men, some bandaged, who had clearly enjoyed themselves.

The landing at Heathrow was very bumpy indeed and as the plane slowed down there was deafening silence, then one of the lads piped up to the cabin at large: "Did your life flash before your eyes? Did a bit of wee come out?" Everyone roared with laughter.

What an enjoyable thread!

Try living in Guernsey with a short runway and often crosswinds! Have had a hop skip and bounce - we knew we were going round again and up we went. I did a fear of flying course to help - the flight was in a force 8 with a crosswind on takeoff and landing!

Missing the point completely, but even the biggest 737, the 800 Max (yes, the dodgy one from a few years ago) only seats 190 people - most seat around 150. Hard landings aren’t that unusual, and what feels like a wobbly approach is often the result of strong winds. It’s always all under control…even on dodgy airlines like Ryanair the pilot generally wants to survive…otherwise they just go around. Now that can be scary!

I think everyone has had the odd landing like that. I definitely once had one when I felt like the pilot was doing an emergency stop. It was a bit of a surprise and I think we all did clutch the arm rests a bit.

And before anyone mentions it I am aware that Ryan Air are registered Ireland, my point is the same though.

I would assume you were landing in adverse weather conditions and think the captain had done a good job

You want a short runway?

Lukla

It also has a mountain at one end and a steep drop at the other.

My first flight ever was out of Kai Tak back in the 60s when I was a child. After surviving the terrifying take off, we also had to contend with a tropical storm - lightning everywhere - and horrendous turbulence-induced airsickness. My poor mother, who had also never flown before, had to deal with three children, all whilst terrified and throwing up herself.

I realise it can be unsettling as a passenger because you can’t see what’s happening at the front of the aircraft. Add in poor weather and different types of approaches and runways and each flight might feel slightly different.

However aviation is a relatively safe industry. Most countries & airlines are very open about reporting, and learning from, any mistakes. And there can’t be many jobs where you have you get re-tested every 6 months.

I'm also very familiar with Bristol Airport. On one occasion we were thundering down the runway about to take off when, all of a sudden, the plane pulled up at the very last minute. That was interesting.

We sat in the cabin for hours while some mechanical problem was being looked into before we were offloaded and put onto another plane.

And doing medical evacuations by helicopter is a whole other experience