Final Checks

Editorial Staff

Monday, May 24, 2021 at 01:19 PM ET

Verified

Airplane in landing configuration against a backdrop of cumulous clouds

Key Takeaways:

The article emphasizes the critical importance of pilots always performing a visual check of the final approach path for landing traffic before entering or taking off from an active runway.
This lesson is illustrated through two incidents: one at a non-towered airport where the author performed a go-around due to another aircraft taking off without checking, and another at a towered airport where the author identified an imminent landing despite ATC clearance.
The key takeaway is that pilots should proactively scan the approach path (e.g., from the taxiway or with a 360-degree scan) and always anticipate that another aircraft might enter the runway unexpectedly, regardless of airport type or ATC instructions.

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Although I had practiced go-arounds during my primary training, it was a few years after earning my private certificate before I had to perform one in anger. I was on final for a small, non-towered suburban airport, having made my radio calls all the way around the pattern. About a half mile from the runway threshold, the Piper Warrior I had spotted in the run-up area taxied onto the runway and began its takeoff roll. I was not happy.

I sidestepped to the right as I added power and started climbing away. At one point, I was about 100 yards off the Warrior’s right wing and more or less level, so I shallowed my climb to let it get above me, and then followed from a distance until it was time for me to turn crosswind and try again. I made a normal pattern and landed.