If you wish to contribute or participate in the discussions about articles you are invited to join SKYbrary as a registered user
Flying a Manual Go-around
From SKYbrary Wiki
| Article Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category: | Loss of Control | 
|
| Content source: | Flight Safety Foundation | 
|
| Content control: | EUROCONTROL | 
|
Flying a go-around places special demands on the pilots, especially when the go-around is unexpected.
If the go-around is conducted because of weather conditions, the transition to instruments will require particular attention. The go-around procedure may be further complicated if airspeed and/or thrust setting are low.
Many modern aircraft have an automatic facility whereby the aircraft automatic systems accomplish the transition from approach to go-around by power and attitude adjustment. However, not all aircraft have this facility; moreover, there is a need for pilots of aircraft which do have automatic go-around capability to maintain proficiency in this procedure in case manually reversion should be necessary.
Practice in flying a go-around is normally included in routine refresher training. Analysis of Flight Data Monitoring data indicates a need for practice in flying go-arounds flown from above DA/H as well as the more common go-around from DA/H.
This article deals with the underlying technique for flying a manual go-around.
Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) Approach-and-landing Accident Reduction (ALAR) ALAR Briefing Note 6.2 — Manual Go-around contains a thorough discussion of the manual go-around.
Task Sharing
Regarding task-sharing during a a manual go-around, the briefing note recommends that:
"The pilot flying (PF) is responsible for controlling vertical navigation and lateral navigation, and for energy management, by ... Flying manually, with flight director (FD) guidance and an adapted (e.g., horizontal situation indicator (HSI) - type) navigation display (ND) mode.
"If manual thrust is selected, the pilot not flying (PNF) should monitor closely the airspeed, airspeed trend and thrust, and call any excessive deviation (e.g., airspeed decreasing below VREF).
"The PNF is responsible for monitoring tasks and for conducting actions requested by the PF, including:
- Conducting the standard PNF tasks; ...
- Monitoring the thrust setting;
- Monitoring vertical speed and radio-altimeter altitude; and,
- Monitoring pitch attitude, bank angle, airspeed and airspeed trend, and calling out any excessive deviation."
The briefing note then provides a thorough explanation of the flight dynamics of a go-around, which is important for understanding the interaction between changes to engine power and flight control settings.
Flying a Manual Go-around
"For a safe go-around," the briefing note continues, "the following “three Ps” constitute a golden rule:
- Pitch:
- Set and maintain the pitch-attitude target;
- Power:
- Set and check the go-around thrust; and,
- Performance:
- Check aircraft performance: positive rate of climb, airspeed at or above VREF (reference landing speed), speed brakes retracted, radio-altimeter indications and barometric-altimeter indications increasing, wings level, gear up, flaps as required.
The briefing note then expands the operational recommendations and task-sharing for the safe conduct of a manual go-around, explaining what each pilot should be doing and concentrating on the vital activities.
Further Reading
Flight Safety Foundation
The Flight Safety Foundation ALAR Toolkit provides useful training information and guides to best practice. Copies of the FSF ALAR Toolkit may be ordered from the Flight Safety Foundation ALAR website http://www.flightsafety.org/current-safety-initiatives/approach-and-landing-accident-reduction-alar
Airbus Descent Management Briefing Notes
Flight Data Services Case Studies