Go-Around/Rejected Landing

• Make a timely decision to discontinue the approach to landing
• Apply takeoff power immediately and transition to climb pitch attitude for VX or VY as appropriate, ±5 knots
• Configure the airplane after a positive rate of climb has been verified or per the manufacturer
• Maneuver to the side of the runway/landing area when necessary to clear and avoid conflicting traffic
• Maintain VY ±5 knots to a safe maneuvering altitude
• Maintain directional control and proper wind-drift correction throughout the climb
• Complete checklists, make radio calls, and analyze and correct common errors (S9)

That it is normal. A go-around is a normal maneuver used when approach and landing parameters deviate from expectations or when it is hazardous to continue. Reasons include (AFH ch. 9):

• ATC requirements
• Unexpected appearance of hazards on the runway
• Overtaking another airplane
• Wind shear
• Wake turbulence
• Mechanical failure
• An unstable approach

The AFH assigns this to you by name: the flight instructor should emphasize early on, and the pilot should understand, that any approach or landing may result in a go-around. The assumption that an aborted landing is invariably the consequence of a poor approach, which in turn is due to insufficient experience or skill, is a fallacy.

Like any other normal maneuver, the go-around should be practiced and perfected. Practically, that means: teach it before the first full-stop landing, fly one on purpose during most early lessons, and never let the word carry a tone of failure in your voice.

The AFH names exactly two sources of delay (AFH ch. 9):

1. Landing expectancy, or set — the anticipatory belief that conditions are not as threatening as they are and that the approach is sure to terminate with a safe landing.
2. Pride — the mistaken belief that the act of going around is an admission of failure — failure to execute the approach properly.

Countermeasures that actually work in a training environment:

• Against set: pre-commit with a number, not a judgment. For a typical GA piston aircraft in a traffic pattern, an immediate go-around should be initiated if the approach becomes unstabilized below 300 ft AGL (AFH ch. 9), and pilots typically go around if not stabilized by 500 feet above airport elevation in VMC (1,000 feet in IMC). Brief it, then hold the student to it even when the approach "would have worked."
• Against pride: praise the go-around explicitly, every time, including the ones that were not strictly necessary. If the only time a student hears approval is on a greaser, you have taught them to press.

Then the framing sentence worth memorizing: the go-around maneuver is not inherently dangerous in itself. It becomes dangerous only when delayed unduly or executed improperly. And although the need may arise at any point, the most critical go-around is one started when very close to the ground.

Power, Attitude, Configuration — in that order (AFH ch. 9). The order is the lesson.

• Power is the pilot's first concern. The instant a pilot decides to go around, full or maximum allowable takeoff power should be applied smoothly, without hesitation, and held until flying speed and controllability are restored. An airplane settling toward the ground has inertia that needs to be overcome. Application is smooth as well as positive — abrupt movements of the throttle in some airplanes cause the engine to falter. Carburetor heat off to obtain maximum power, as applicable.
• Attitude — a pilot needs to accept the fact that an airplane cannot fly below stall speed, and it cannot climb below minimum power required speed. Resist any impulse to pitch up for a climb if airspeed is insufficient. In some circumstances it may be desirable to lower the nose briefly to gain airspeed and not be on the backside of the power curve.
• Configuration — flaps first, then gear, after the descent has stopped.

Narration in the airplane is three words and then a sentence: "Go around — power, attitude, flaps."

It fights them, hard, at the worst moment. At the time a pilot decides to go around, a trim setting for low airspeed is in place. The sudden addition of power tends to raise the airplane's nose and causes left yaw. Allowing the nose to rise too early could result in an unrecoverable stall when the go-around occurs at a low altitude (AFH ch. 9).

So: anticipate the need for considerable forward elevator pressure to hold the nose level or in a safe climb attitude, and apply sufficient right rudder pressure to counteract torque and P-factor. Then "rough trim" to relieve adverse control pressures after establishing the airspeed and climb attitude, with precise trim later once conditions stabilize.

Coaching, in order: "Push. Right rudder. Now trim." The push is counterintuitive and has to be pre-briefed, because a startled student's instinct at full power near the ground is to pull.

On airplanes that produce high control pressures when using maximum power on go-arounds, use caution when reaching for the flap handle. Airplane control is the first consideration during this high-workload phase.

After the descent has been stopped, the landing flaps are partially retracted or placed in the takeoff position as recommended by the manufacturer. Depending on altitude and airspeed, it is wise to retract the flaps intermittently in small increments to allow time for the airplane to accelerate progressively as they are being raised. A sudden and complete retraction of the flaps could cause a loss of lift resulting in the airplane settling into the ground (AFH ch. 9).

Flaps before gear, unless otherwise specified in the AFM/POH, for two reasons: first, on most airplanes full flaps produce more drag than the landing gear; and second, in case the airplane inadvertently touches down as the go-around is initiated, it is desirable to have the landing gear in the down-and-locked position.

After a positive rate of climb is established, the landing gear is retracted — and specifically only after the initial or rough trim is accomplished and when it is certain the airplane will remain airborne.

The reassuring note to give a student: during the initial part of an extremely low go-around, it is possible for the airplane to settle onto the runway and bounce. This situation is not particularly dangerous provided the airplane is kept straight and a constant, safe pitch attitude is maintained — with power applied, the airplane attains a safe flying speed rapidly and the advanced power cushions any secondary touchdown.

Ground effect can be an important factor in go-arounds. If the go-around is made close to the ground, the airplane may be in the ground effect area. Pilots are often lulled into a sense of false security by the apparent "cushion of air" under the wings that initially assists in the transition from an approach descent to a climb. This "cushion of air," however, is imaginary. The apparent increase in airplane performance is, in fact, due to a reduction in induced drag in the ground effect area. It is "borrowed" performance that is repaid when the airplane climbs out of the ground effect area (AFH ch. 9).

The trap: an attempt to climb prematurely may result in the airplane not being able to climb or even maintain altitude at full power. Attempting to climb out of ground effect prematurely is a listed common error.

Combine that with density altitude and it becomes a real hazard rather than a talking point: on a hot day at a high field, the borrowed performance is a larger fraction of the total, and the repayment comes due precisely when the airplane leaves the surface (AI.VII.N.K3). Teach the student to accelerate in ground effect and let the airplane tell them when it is ready.

Ten (AFH ch. 9):

1. Failure to recognize a condition that warrants a rejected landing
2. Indecision
3. Delay in initiating a go-around
4. Failure to apply maximum allowable power in a timely manner
5. Abrupt power application
6. Improper pitch attitude
7. Failure to configure the airplane appropriately
8. Attempting to climb out of ground effect prematurely
9. Failure to adequately compensate for torque/P factor
10. Loss of aircraft control

The first three are the same error at three stages — recognition, decision, action — and they are the ones the ACS singles out as risks (AI.VII.N.R1, R2).

Maneuver to the side of the runway/landing area when necessary to clear and avoid conflicting traffic (AI.VII.N.S6). The reason is line of sight: on a go-around you are climbing at a slow speed, high pitch attitude, behind and below whatever caused the go-around, with the nose blocking the view directly ahead.

Teach the student to pick the side that keeps the conflicting traffic in sight and keeps them out of its flightpath, then hold that offset while climbing. In a left-hand pattern, offsetting away from the pattern side usually satisfies both. Follow any ATC instruction and local procedure — the ACS specifies the objective (clear and avoid conflicting traffic), not a direction.

Teach it as a deliberate step, announced: "Going around — sidestepping right, I have him in sight." An unannounced drift toward the traffic is the version that hurts, and collision hazards is a named risk element (AI.VII.N.R5).

You have accepted a constraint that a go-around removes and replaces with a different one. As PIC you have the final authority to accept or decline any LAHSO clearance (PHAK ch. 14), and pilots should only receive a LAHSO clearance when there is a minimum ceiling of 1,000 feet and 3 statute miles of visibility (PHAK ch. 14).

The go-around specifics to brief before you ever accept one:

• The hold-short constraint applies to the landing rollout; once you go around you are a departing airplane on a runway that has traffic operating on an intersecting runway — so the climb path and the sidestep direction must account for that traffic, not just the runway ahead
• Decide the abort point in advance: a go-around initiated late enough that you may touch down beyond the hold-short point is a different problem than one initiated on final
• Runway incursion is a listed risk for this Task (AI.VII.N.R9) — a rejected landing that ends in a rollout past the hold-short point is an incursion

For a student, the cleanest teaching answer remains: decline the LAHSO clearance. The workload it adds sits on top of the phase of flight where their capacity is already fully committed.

Transition out of the sideslip and into a crab the instant power comes in — that is the technique. The ACS names this element in both directions, wind correction techniques on takeoff/departure and approach/landing (AI.VII.N.K4), because a go-around runs the second into the first in about four seconds without a pause to reconfigure — which is exactly why students drop the correction.

What the student was doing on the approach: the wing-low (sideslip) method — rudder to align the airplane's heading with the runway direction, and aileron opposed to the drift, just enough bank to cancel it (AFH ch. 9). That correction was increasing through the round out, because airspeed decreases as the round out progresses, the flight controls gradually become less effective, and the crosswind correction being held becomes inadequate.

What changes the instant power comes in:

• Airspeed increases, so the same drift now needs less bank, not more — the opposite of the trend they were just flying
• Torque and P-factor arrive, requiring sufficient right rudder pressure to counteract them, on top of whatever rudder the crosswind alignment needed. In a left crosswind those add; in a right crosswind they fight
• The reference changes from holding the longitudinal axis aligned with the runway to maintaining wind-drift correction throughout the climb (AI.VII.N.S8) — you stop preventing sideways touchdown and start tracking a ground track

So once climbing, hold the extended centerline (or the offset track if you are sidestepping for traffic, S6) — do not climb out cross-controlled. Coaching, in order, after the PACT calls: "Power, push, right rudder — now wings level, crab into it, track the centerline." The named error to watch for is holding the wing-low correction all the way up the climb, which shows as a sideslip — the same fault the AFH lists on a normal takeoff as inadequate compensation for torque/P-factor in the climb, resulting in a sideslip (AFH ch. 6).

By pre-loading the triggers as statements, so recognition becomes recall rather than judgment. Build the student a list they say out loud on downwind:

• Unstabilized below 300 feet AGL in the pattern — immediate go-around (AFH ch. 9)
• Not stabilized by 500 feet above airport elevation in VMC — go around (AFH ch. 9)
• Cannot land within the first third of the runway, or drifting sideways — go around (AFH ch. 9, floating)
• Excessive ballooning, or the nose needs to be lowered significantly in the round out — go around (AFH ch. 9)
• Severe bounce or divergent porpoise — go around, and continue it even though another bounce may occur (AFH ch. 9)
• Any doubt about the landing surface — go around and consider the situation further (AFH ch. 9, wrong surface landing avoidance)

Then rehearse them under load. Use of distractions is an established FAA training technique — NTSB statistics show most stall/spin accidents occurred when the pilot's attention was diverted from the primary task of flying, and sixty percent occurred during takeoff and landing (AIH ch. 9). Drop a pencil on short final in a benign setting and see whether the trigger still fires.

Early, and then permanently. Two AIH principles govern it:

• Primacy — it is important for the instructor to make sure the learner gets it right the first time (AIH ch. 9). The first go-around a student ever flies establishes whether power comes in instantly and whether the nose is pushed rather than pulled. Do not let the first one be an unplanned one.
• Practice and skill retention — to gain skills, learners must practice, and the instructor must allot enough time for meaningful activity (AIH ch. 9). A go-around briefed but flown twice will not be there at hour 40.

Practical structure: brief and demonstrate the go-around before the first landing lesson, using the demonstration-performance method's explanation phase on the ground (objectives, precise actions, end result, safety procedures). Then fly at least one commanded go-around every landing lesson through solo, and afterward at intervals. Vary the point of initiation — abeam the numbers, mid-final, after the round out, and after a touchdown — because the most critical go-around is one started when very close to the ground (AFH ch. 9), and that is the one students practice least.

Use collaborative assessment — the learner self-assesses first, then you compare your assessment to theirs (AIH ch. 9). It works especially well here because a student can usually feel whether the power was instant and whether the nose rose.

Anchor the assessment to the three cardinal principles rather than to the outcome: Was power immediate and smooth? Was the attitude safe and the speed protected? Was the configuration changed in the right order, after the descent stopped and after a positive rate? Grading on those three keeps a well-executed go-around from a bad approach reading as a bad lesson.

Follow the AIH's delivery rules: when pointing out areas that need improvement, offer concrete suggestions that help, and if possible, avoid ending the evaluation on a negative note.

And the framing sentence to close with, because it is the belief you are trying to install: a go-around is a normal maneuver, and the decision to fly one is the correct outcome of an approach that was not going to work.

Guard the controls and be prepared to take control (AIH ch. 9). The AIH identifies this exact moment as the test case: a typical test of how much control is needed often occurs during a learner's first few attempts to land an aircraft. The instructor must quickly evaluate the learner's need for help, and not hesitate to take control if required.

Practical division:

• Hands and feet near, not on, so the student owns the airplane and you own the recovery. One hand near the throttle mirrors the habit you are teaching them — form the habit of keeping one hand on the throttle throughout the approach and landing (AFH ch. 9)
• Eyes outside, on the same picture the student should be using — the aiming point and the runway edges — because you cannot diagnose a flare from inside the cockpit
• Voice first, controls second: one short corrective cue ("power," "hold it off," "aileron"). If the cue does not produce the input within about a second, or if the situation is diverging, stop coaching

Then take it cleanly: "I have the flight controls." Do not leave the student on the controls — anxious learners can be incredibly strong and usually exhibit reactions inappropriate to the situation, and if a recovery is necessary, there is absolutely nothing to be gained by having the learner on the controls and having to fight for control (AIH ch. 9).

Set your own floor before the flight: learners should never be allowed to exceed the flight instructor's limits, and do not exceed your own ability to perceive a problem, decide upon a course of action, and physically react.