Missed Approaches

[TurboTomato]

I know these occur far more frequently that we think but how many would you expect in the average day (no extreme weather) at somewhere busy like Gatwick or Heathrow?

[Hotel Tango]

At some of the very busy major airports it's not unusual to see several GAs per day.

[TurboTomato]

Presumably just from aircraft having not cleared the runway in time when they are closely spaced?

[DaveReidUK]

I know these occur far more frequently than we think but how many would you expect in the average day (no extreme weather) at somewhere busy like Gatwick or Heathrow?

Over the last few years, go-arounds at Heathrow have averaged around 550 p.a.

It's not unknown to see two or more consecutive GAs (there were 4 in a row Wednesday before last). Equally, there can be long periods without one - Heathrow rarely has "average" days.

The conventional wisdom is that fewer GAs than at present would mean that ATC wasn't trying hard enough. :O

[tczulu]

Multiple G/A's at Hounslow International this morning due non-squawking zone infringer. Some deps also halted.

[Hotel Tango]

Presumably just from aircraft having not cleared the runway in time when they are closely spaced?

That's probably the most common one yes. However, there are numerous other reasons GAs will be executed such as an unstabilised approach. That itself can also be for a variety of reasons.

[TurboTomato]

I've been noticing more at Gatwick, but it's just that - noticing. I think it's because with the better weather we have the window open in the office and you don't tend to not notice them when they go missed at 2km from the threshold! Of the ones I noticed today there was Hi Fly's A330 (first heavy I've seen go missed and you really know about it!) and an Air One A320. I was just curious as as far as I could observe the weather wasn't a factor.

[Talkdownman]

Every approach could become a missed approach. It's no big deal...

[+TSRA]

I probably average about 5 to 7 missed approaches a year, although I fly into some pretty remote places with limited weather information so that number is much higher than the average pilot flying in major centres.

I actually went around a day ago for my 6th time this year because an aircraft had failed to vacate the runway and we were just descending through 150 feet above ground.

Go Arounds and Missed Approaches are standard procedures that should give no cause for alarm. If anything it should prove that your crew wants to get home just as much as you do by not wanting to take unnecessary risk.

Can they be done wrong. Sure - but thats why in simulator training almost every approach ends in a missed approach. I average 1 landing for every 4 approaches in the sim. For my last recurrent training, this was day 1 as taken from my notes:

1. Normal multi-engine missed off an NDB approach
2. Normal multi-engine missed and given an engine fire during gear retraction from an RNAV approach
3. Single engine missed from an ILS
4. Landing from an ILS to minimums

So hopefully you see that its a normal procedure that we train for and that at the end of the day if you're in an aircraft that is in a missed, it means your crew is looking out for your best interests! :)