Goaround at LHR this morning
 

As I was doing the normal grind into London on the M4 at 6:30 this morning out of the corner of my eye I was watching the stately, rythmic procession of the longhaul heavies trundling down the approach into Heathrow. I was mildly surprised to see a dark grey 747 tucking up the undercarriage and going around. I'm sure it was routine stuff but I am curious about the cause of the go around if anybody out there has an answer.

Hey LowNSlow,

Don't expect the response you are looking for here. Any mention of go-arounds on these forums is a no-no as

"they are not uncommon events and occur for a variety of reasons."

Ask a question like yours and expect your head to be bitten off. Just type "go around" into the search engine and look at the responses!

FBB

Don't bother asking........Just don't

I would strongly suspect that the one ahead was slow to leave the runway. At that time of the day, just following night curfew, it's mega-busy and the tightest possible spacing is being employed. It only needs someone not to fly the precise speed he has been given, or to miss a runway turn-off and a go-around results.

Go-arounds are not uncommon and only very, very occasionally are they for scary reasons, despite what the newspapers often write!

Heathrow Director, I suspected it was something of that ilk,thanks for the level headed reply :ok:

I do enjoy watching the morning procession of 747's, A-340's, 777's etc lining up for the approach in the morning. Obviously a VERY busy time for all concerned.

LowNSlow - answers are as above. Next time, I suggest you put the query directly onto 'Spectator's Balcony' where Pprune Pop and I will attempt to ensure you get an answer to your question without the normal vitreol which regularly appears on this forum. (NB: Current posters excluded there!):(

In all probabilty one of the R&N masters will soon move you anyway, so do check back.

LowNSlow wrote: "Obviously a VERY busy time for all concerned."

Oh yes... but the most enormously satisfying job on the planet!

A UAL B747 went around because the traffic in front was slow to vacate the runway.

Around 20 minutes later I went home after the end of another tedious nightshift, a shift HD wasn't very familiar with :)

WF.

I did a go-around at O'Hare the other day - ATC was poor (the bloke just spoke too fast and sometimes unintelligably) and kept us too high to make the glide and hence achieve stabilised approach criteria. Interestingly, the approach controllers final transmission to us, which included the switch to tower frequency, comprised 7 seperate sets of instructions - got to be a record. I wish sometimes the O'Hare boys would come over for a busman's holiday and watch and learn from the aces at London/Heathrow - I have nothing but admiration for their (Brit) consistent, top quality controlling - year round.

God Bless you Nurjio - hope you have many safe and happy landings.

go arounds are common at heathrow its something that happens a lot so dont expect answer here

"go arounds are common at heathrow its something that happens a lot so dont expect answer here"


Even though the answer has already been given by Warped Factor a few posts back..... :confused:

Thanks for the replies people and it must be a satisfying job HD although a tad stressful at times I suspect ;)

I can give you a definitive answer because I was the one who sent the UAL around....

The B777 that landed in front rolled past the A10E turn off and due to A10W being closed to work in progress the next available exit was A11, which is quite a bit further down the runway. No drama or anything, so sent the UAL around and seconds later it was all resolved.

HD is indeed correct in that at that time of the day it is very busy, particularly with heavy, long haul types that have been in the air for very long periods of time.

Hope that explains your question ;)

One eye on the traffic (airborne, that is)
 

It's a harmless question and obviously the guy is an enthusiast, so I reckon that's OK. I just wonder what he will now do with the info.

Very polite guy, I must say.

I used to be a spotter too.

old traffic dodger

LowNslow,
As a Heathrow-based 747 pilot, the conversation in the UAL flight deck was probably along the lines of
"He's a bit slow clearing isn't he?
"Sure is....how low do you want to go before hitting the go-around button?"
"Well, I'm happy to leave it to 100 feet, but let's see what the Tower says"
At which point normally the Tower controller tells us to make a go-around, or we tell him we are/aren't happy with the way things are going.
My point being that it's not a drama, it's something which we (the pilots) and they (the controllers) can see developing, and it's just a question of when to call it.
In the company I work for, the go-around is ALWAYS included in the pre-descent brief. That's because if it should happen, no-one is caught by surprise (always a Good Thing in our profession.:ok: )

The starter of this thread is a gentleman, in every sense of the word. I have known him a long time and is an aircraft nut. Just like many of us. He has his own aircraft and when you see a go-around just in front of you curiosity has to be satisfied. That goes for those who read of it too. It is natural, and has appeared as a question many times. It is nice that 'halo, ' who I know, explains it as the controller who called for the g/a - as did HD did when he was in the tower. It then becomes real to the new breed of spotter/ppl/cpl and on.

I always found that the controllers at LHR and LGW were the best - I don't fly now but I know they still are.

When these spotters hear of these normal instances it means more to them than most, and they 'just have to know' what happens on the FD at that noment and what caused it. 28L gave that view which will, no doubt, tickle the senses of our spotters, just knowing that he is a 747 driver.

Please be patient with them. We were like it once.

PPP

Yes,but you would think that someone who has their own aircraft would realise all the possibilities that can cause a go round. Which one it was, does not REALLY matter much to anybody ,does it?

OG. yes it does! To the spotters that this forum was set up for. Like I said, we are still spotters at heart. If you still look up at engine noise you are a spotter. ;)

Well said, Pop! Some of my postings on PPrune have been interpreted as slightly "irate" but were always intended with good humour - it just doesn't show up in print! I'm sure that this applies to many other postings too.

I still watch the planes, with much longing, and will do all my life and I well appreciate that it's nice to know what's going on.. always glad to help where I can.