Expert Opinion
AINsight: Go-around Minded
Pilots’ failure to recognize the need for and execute a go-around is a threat to flight safety and has been a major cause of approach-and-landing accidents

Pilots’ failure to recognize the need for and execute a go-around is a threat to flight safety and has been a major cause of approach-and-landing accidents. The most perplexing issue with a go-around is that pilots rarely perform this maneuver and often continue an approach to landing even if it is or becomes unstable. 

This decision to continue an aircraft’s unstable approach—rather than performing a go-around—flies in the face of industry guidance. Aviation safety experts overwhelmingly suggest that a go-around is the most effective “reset opportunity” to stack the odds back in the favor of a pilot to safely land an aircraft. 

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Stuart “Kipp” Lau
Contributor - Safety
About the author

Pilot, safety expert, consultant, and aviation journalist Stuart “Kipp” Lau writes about flight safety and airmanship for AIN.

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