PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - how high can you get in an approach on the 737
Old 30th Jul 2013, 14:44
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Centaurus
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Australia
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I read of one Singaporean 737 captain that was very high and instead of going around (real men don't go around, syndrome) he simply whacked on full aileron left and right alternately in order to get flight spoiler drag. Passengers were upset understandably.

He still was 900 ft high over the threshold continuing with the wing waggle technique until his F/O had enough of this crap and shoved open the thrust levers thus forcing a go-around. The F/O saved the day on that occasion. The captain was later killed in another accident.

The moral is if the aircraft is clearly uncomfortably high on glide slope then don't risk crashing just to big note yourself in front of the co-pilot. Go around early - not later. The later you leave the decision to give it away and go-around, the more is the temptation to believing you can just sneak it in and continue the unstable approach. It is commonly known as piss poor airmanship. There is no shortage of cowboys who are tempted to give it a go.
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