Autolanding or not?
 

Hi Dudes

Anyway to know feel/see/hear whenever that big bird makes a autolanding from the cabin - or as a spotter for that matter - or not?

Certainly on the Airbus 320 series I don't think you could tell really from the cabin, generally it will perform a 'positive' to 'very positive' touch down. I brace for impact during touchdown on BHX 15 autoland.

I tell the passengers if we are about to carry out an autoland and it is my sector, gives the passengers some background info and saves a red face when saying goodbye to the punters and it has just slammed it in. I have done one 'real' autoland in the last 6 months and the rest in the sim. The real autoland was still a practice in greater than CAT I conditions.

Cheers.

The Last autoland I did was on a 2 day old 319 and it was a real cruncher.

I was very glad that I'd told the pax it would be an autoland!


You can tell if you sit near the front of the aircraft and listen out very carefully.

When we take out the autopilot there is always an alarm of some sort.

If you hear the alarm on approach then the autopilot has been taken out. If you hear the alarm on the roll out it was an autoland.

Of course some folk hand fly from a long way out and it's more than possible that the cabin crew could be talking on the PA when the AP is taken out.

The cabin crew can usually hear the alarm so I guess front row passengers should be able to.

SW

No, not really.

Hard if not impossible to tell from the cabin.
 

If you are on a McDonald Douglas MD-80 series jet, and you are sitting up in first class (further back, and you have exceptional hearing) and after touchdown sometime during the deceleration phase on the runway hear an automated warbling warning sound followed by a female voice saying “autopilot disconnect” then you can surmise you just experienced an autoland. Those autopilot disconnect sounds are audible to me when I am sitting in the front. Otherwise, unless the flight crew informs you of their intentions to autloand, there would not be any noticeable difference during the flight phase.

Additionally if it is exceedingly foggy with very limited visibility around the airport you can be pretty sure that the only way for airplanes to land would be to use some sort of autoland capability.

The 737NG that I now fly has a HUD (Heads Up Display) that allows me to “hand fly” (no autopilot) down to the same low visibility minimums as I could using the jet’s autopilot coupled autoland capability.

Thx all of you for answers....had my doubt that it could be detectable.

Tom and skywave: never had the pleasure of that kind of 'service message' you give your passengers...excellent :ok:.

It's rare nowadays, and many of us actually appreciate a little more info, than just weather at destination and TOA.

Only had the chance once to sit in front - seat 4A - on a IA A320 landing at 11.500 feet in Leh India ...don't remember hearing any bell ringing.

Awesome flight over the Himalayas and approach in the indus valley:

YouTube - Approach Leh Ladakh (IXL)

(can't show video only the link)

Stunning video and amazing scenery. Thanx for sharing.

Definitely, it's clearly audible back to at least the 3rd row, though not back at the overwing exits. I always notice it when near the front.
I'll try not to mutter rude things about the crew if it may be that the automatics smacked it onto the runway :)

Maybe you should not as they may have for operational reasons...

smacked
 

smacked it onto the runway....just love that !
any landing you walk from is a 'good' landing ...isn't?

Skywave - you can hear the alarm from the first few rows of the airbus as a passenger.

Only meant in jest, as I hope the smiley successfully indicated - I'm well aware of the advantages, and need, of a positive landing in many circumstances.