The slightest technical issue with an aircraft seems to cause tremendous concern
By Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
Manchester, England
November 15, 2012 12:12pm CST
Considering the vast number of aircraft taking to the air each day, the number of accidents is very small. Of course any crash is a serious matter and nobody wishes to be involved with one, but the safety record is quite impressive and should alleviate most people’s concerns.
I fly abroad at least a couple of times a year for holidays and have therefore flown quite a few times to date. There have only been 2 occasions where the aircraft has aborted landing for some reason after the descent had started. The first was entering Reus Airport in Spain, which was due to severe bad weather so the pilot circled to wait for a better opportunity. The second was entering Manchester Airport in England, where the tail flaps did not work so we had to circle while the pilot ran a series of safety checks. Neither of these were a serious matter, yet the majority of passengers seemed very agitated and there were audible sighs of relief when the aircraft landed.
Have you ever experienced an aborted landing, and if so how concerned were you?
1 response
@maximax8 (31042)
• United Kingdom
16 Nov 12
In 2009 I was waiting for the plane to Cape Town though due to fog the incoming plane hadn't been able to land at London. It went to Manchester and landed successfully there. They had to take all its passengers to London by coaches or buses. The plane to Cape Town was delayed by almost 5 hours. It was a 12 hour flight.
An airline got a new route and it was to Tunisia. It was such a bumpy flight due to air turbulence. It landed in Tunis in a way that made me vomit. I got severe ear pain as well. Then the plane carried on where I was to get off. Again I vomited. It was a rough journey.
Your experiences were very scary. An aborted landing would be terrible for my ears and my nerves.
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Nov 12
It did not seem very scary to me, but the general atmosphere on the plane seemed to one of major concern. On each occasion it was obvious that the landing had been aborted because the plane was very low and suddenly climbed quite steeply. My immediate thoughts were curiosity, wondering what had caused the pilot to abort landing.
In each case the pilot seemed quite calm and at ease when announcing the reason, so I assumed that if a person with his knowledge and experience was not worried then there was no reason for me to be.
