The Long And Short Of Landings

You wouldn’t think that two common landing-phase accidents at opposite ends of the runway would have same root cause and the same corrective technique. Landing short (impacting terrain or obstacles just prior to the runway) and landing long (touching down at a point where the aircraft cannot be stopped before running off the end of the runway) account for six percent of all landing accidents, according to AOPA’s Air Safety Institute. Remove loss of directional control on the runway from the picture, plus touchdowns prior to the runway, and those extending beyond the far end of the landing surface account for almost one-fifth of the remaining reports.

Key Takeaways:

• Both landing short and landing long accidents, which are common, primarily result from inadequate airspeed control, improper glidepath management, and incorrect runway aiming point selection.
• The key to preventing these incidents is maintaining a stabilized approach, ensuring correct aircraft configuration, speed, glidepath, and centerline alignment throughout the final approach.
• Pilots must execute a go-around if stabilized approach criteria are not met, particularly within 500 feet of the runway, rather than attempting to salvage an unsafe landing.

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