“Why didn’t the pilot go around?”
You hear this question a lot when there is a runway overrun—especially when it is a high-profile event such as Flight 7598, an Amazon Prime Air cargo airplane that crashed in Florida last week.
Why Go-Arounds Save Lives: Lessons From Unstabilized Approaches
Prime Air runway overrun highlights critical importance of maintaining proper airspeeds and initiating timely balked landings.
![Go-arounds, also called a ‘balked landing,’ are part of all pilot training. [Credit: FLYING Archive]](https://www.flyingmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/httpswww.flyingmag.comsitesflyingmag.comfilescirrusapproach-scaled-1.jpg)
Key Takeaways:
- The recent Amazon Prime Air cargo plane runway overrun in Miami, which caused fatalities and injuries, raises the critical question of why pilots fail to execute a go-around when an approach is unstable.
- Preliminary investigation suggests factors like excessive airspeed, floating on touchdown, unused speed brakes, and potential crew power dynamics contributed to the inability to land safely or successfully initiate a go-around.
- The accident underscores the paramount importance of maintaining a stabilized approach, adhering to performance metrics, and the imperative for pilots to initiate a go-around if the approach is not stable.
- This incident is expected to become a key training tool to reinforce aircraft performance calculations, proper approach techniques, and the crucial decision-making process for timely go-arounds, including assertive crew communication.
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