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A Misleading and Inaccurate Article

I recently came across an article from the Times of India that not only portrayed the journalists complete lack of knowledge and understanding of his articles topic, but also displayed dramatic, sensationalistic rubbish. To say that the story was presented with a complete lack of accuracy is an understatement and has done probably nothing more than frighten the general public and discredited an Airline Captain for carrying out his duty.

For those of you who have read my posts recently you will know that several of these have been about aircraft go arounds, and how they are carried out for safety reasons. Let’s take a look at the quote below taken from the article and discuss the inaccuracies it contains.

The last minute go-around from the low height is dangerous and could result in disaster. In aviation parlance the decision height is the critical level at which the pilot has to take the final call on whether to land or seek another turn. In the case of the Jet Airways flight, the aircraft had passed the decision height and was just 70 feet above the runway.

The first sentence states that last minute aircraft go arounds from a low height is dangerous and could end in disaster. Absolute rubbish, it doesn’t matter to the aircraft whether it is 10 feet off the ground or 1000 feet, it still flies the same! The procedure is identical and at worst the wheels may come in contact with the runway which happens regularly in go arounds from low visibility approaches. If the autopilot is engaged, the only action required from the pilot is to simply push one switch. One push of the go around button and the aircraft will conduct the procedure by itself. The pilots are simply required to monitor and retract the landing gear once a positive rate of climb is established.

In the next sentence the writer talks about the decision height and this being the point where a decision is made to either land or go around. To put this simply when a pilot reaches the decision height he or she will determine if they can see the runway or not. If yes, a landing can be made, if no, then they must go around. This is totally separate to a Captains decision to go around at any time because of a safety reason.

Let me pose a question. You are the Captain of a Boeing B747 on final approach to land. You have reached your decision altitude of 200 feet, the weather is good so you make the decision to continue and land. You are now 50 feet above the runway and your co pilots yells out that another aircraft is entering the same runway you are about to land on and there is no way you can stop in time. If you land your aircraft you will definitely crash into the other plane potentially killing everyone.

So what would you do, land and crash or go around in complete safety? If you believe the journalist of this story, once you have passed your decision height you must land. I think you have picture now of the complete nonsense given in this article.

Pilots are Extensively Trained to Conduct Go Arounds

Many airlines require their pilots to conduct go arounds from less than 50 feet when undergoing regular simulator training sessions. For the author to say it was dangerous to go around below 70 feet is once again pure nonsense.

An initial probe revealed the pilot claimed that the “go-around” was done as he was feeling uncomfortable and led to the revelation that there was no landing clearance.

This quote is probably the most ridiculous of all. A go around must be carried out if a landing clearance has not been given to the aircraft from the control tower. To land without a landing clearance is dangerous and should never be done. The writer talks about the aircraft making the approach without a landing clearance, this is completely normal. Sometimes under busy periods a pilot won’t be given a landing clearance until they are very close to the runway. Ask any pilot who has landed at busy airports such as Chicago’s Ohare  and you will be told how late they can sometimes be given.

Unfortunately I could go on and on about the discrepancies in this article. While the writer has produced a dramatic and exciting article it is almost completely incorrect. For whatever the reason the DGCA is investigating Captain Chaudhary I believe no accusations should be made until while the investigation is being conducted.

Remember that any Airline Captain has many responsibilities to consider when in command of an aircraft and that is why he or she earns the pilot salary they are paid. I certainly hope the writer of this article has not been paid for this inappropriate and innacurate story.

If you would like to read the article in question please click here.

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