The Last 400 Feet

In many conversations with instrument instructors, Ive noted a common concern about the way many pilots conclude practice precision approaches (ILS or GPS LPV) under the hood: They do a great job of keeping the needles near the center as decision altitude nears; airspeed, descent rate and heading all would be appropriate. But when the hood came off at DA and the pilot spotted the runway, it was Katie bar the door. What happened next can be summarized as a whirlwind of activity in the left seat as the power was yanked back, flap deflection increased and a dive for the runway threshold commenced. It was as if there were some sort of prize for landing short.

rdurden

Friday, March 20, 2015 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Pilots commonly develop a dangerous habit of "diving for the runway" immediately after visual contact on precision approaches, making premature and aggressive power/configuration changes instead of maintaining the established glideslope.
This ingrained habit, practiced in good weather, becomes a significant safety risk in actual low-visibility conditions, potentially leading to crashes short of the runway or loss of control.
The article strongly advises pilots to maintain the stable approach (glideslope, airspeed, and configuration) until well over the approach lights or even the runway threshold, even after gaining visual contact, to prioritize safety.
There is ample runway length for a safe landing when maintaining the glideslope to the threshold, eliminating the need to rush and reducing the risk of accidents compared to attempting to land short.

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In many conversations with instrument instructors, I’ve noted a common concern about the way many pilots conclude practice precision approaches (ILS or GPS LPV) under the “hood”: They do a great job of keeping the needles near the center as decision altitude nears; airspeed, descent rate and heading all would be appropriate. But when the hood came off at DA and the pilot spotted the runway, it was Katie bar the door. What happened next can be summarized as a whirlwind of activity in the left seat as the power was yanked back, flap deflection increased and a dive for the runway threshold commenced. It was as if there were some sort of prize for landing short.

None of this made sense to the CFIs. The airplane had been nicely established on the localizer and glideslope and—just because the pilot thought he or she could see the runway—it was suddenly time to make all sorts of speed and configuration changes, despite not yet reaching the approach lights, with plenty of runway ahead.