Heathrow Go-Arounds

[10W]

The BBC local news in the London area led last night with a story on how "jets are jostling for runway space" at LHR. They quoted "leaked CAA documents" (which looked to me like the MOR Occurence Digests which are freely available to the industry) and how a jet was cleared to go around "only 20 feet" above the runway. An ATC expert was wheeled out and played the "unsafe traffic levels" trump card. Anyone else see it ? To me it's a total non story and a waste of time which will only heighten Joe Public's distrust of aviation. Or am I missing the point.

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[ATCO Two]

Hi 10W,

I didn't see the news item in question, but this seems like a "non story". Traffic often goes around from very low levels at EGLL perfectly safely. In an ideal world this would not happen, but with 2.5 nm spacing the system relies on the aircraft ahead to expedite clear of the runway. If the pilot is not switched on to this fact and rolls down too far the inevitable happens. Commercial considerations and service to the customer dictate that we try to achieve a landing out of every situation, but this is not always possible. Even so considering the number of daily movements (c.1200) we only have on average around 2 or 3 go arounds a day if that. The operation is reaching capacity, but is certainly not unsafe. Who was the ATC expert you mentioned?

[Mr Chips]

I didn't see the programme - but it does sound "dodgy". Does anyone know what really happened in the Chelsea FC go around. "Seconds from Landing", the pilot initiated a go around due to the fact that there were no baggage handlers at LHR. Doesn't sound too likely!

[10W]

Thanks Guys, you confirm my thoughts that it's just the normal sort of thing which happens from time to time at an airfield where the traffic is high. I understand that LHR actually expect a certain number of go-arounds in the normal course of events. It's the price to be paid for squeezing them in for the other 99.99 per cent of the time.

The expert was Richard Dawson from GATCO, I think. I don't know the guy or his background so have no idea where he is coming from. But remember for Danny's sake, no slander please :-)

I did see it the story in the company of an airline pilot friend and he also thought it was a load of b****cks. At the end of the day he is happy as Captain to make the decision to land and if he's not happy then he'll go around whether ATC say so or not.

Thanks for your input.