Why Can't We Land?
Copyright 2002. Aviation Safety. Belvoir Publications Inc. Access to this sample article is free. However, reprinting, republishing or reposting in whole or in part without express written permission is prohibited.
Hard landings, loss of control, runway overruns – is kissing pavement so hard?
Day in day out, week after week, in good weather and in poor, pilots are beating the snot out of airplanes, using the runway, edge lights, signs, ditches or anything else that gets in the way of their landings.
landing accidents account for more than a third of all general aviation accidents. While landing accidents are not as likely to be fatal as other kinds of crashes – only 3 to 4 percent of fatal accidents are caused by poor landings – they are responsible for nearly 500 bent airplanes per year.
General aviation accidents tend to be caused more often by pilot error than by mechanical problems, and those pilot errors can be separated into two categories: judgment errors and skill shortcomings. While some areas of judgment are suspect in pilots who have landing accidents, most of the problem appears to be a shortage of skill. Training and currency, which together help make a pilot proficient, are the best cures for most pilot-induced landing accidents.
landing accidents account for about 40 percent of all accidents in fixed-gear, single-engine airplanes, 30 percent of those in single retracts and 37 percent of those in piston twins – the largest category for each type of airplane. But they are seldom fatal.
AOPA's Nall Report found only three fatal landing-related accidents in fixed singles in 1999, one in a single retract and three in twins. By comparison, the takeoff/climb phase accounted for 23 percent of all accidents in fixed singles, 24 percent in single retracts and 24 percent in multis. There were 25 fatal accidents in fixed singles, 12 in single retracts and 11 in multis.
The accident record is filled with just about every type of landing accident conceivable – often by pilot/owners with enough experience in the airplane to know better. They routinely touch down more than half way along a runway, bounce hard enough to push the landing gear through the wings, depart the runway to the left or right and careen into airplanes, buildings or signs. Landing short, landing long, landing to the side of the runway. With wind or without.
It's enough to make you wonder if the pilot thinks the airplane will land itself if left alone.
The reasons aren't so simple. Some pilots are just out of practice. Some pay little attention to airspeed– or don't know the proper target airspeed in the first place. Some vary the configuration from flight to flight and pay little attention to the results. Some people just can't seem to move their feet for using rudder or brakes.
Practice and attention to detail are two key factors in reducing the frequency of landing accidents.
Some pilots seem to think the need for practicing landings goes away after the ink is dry on the private certificate. Shooting touch and goes is seen as rookie work, even among pilots who fly only 50 hours a year. Pilots who fly more often think they get enough practice while flying for real that they don't have to schedule additional training. That may be so, but a thick logbook doesn't protect you from a run-in with a runway.
Speed Control
The primary underlying cause of poor landings appears to be lousy speed control. Get too slow and your choices are to land short or risk stalling onto the runway and landing hard. Either way, it's hard on the airplane. Come in too fast, and the airplane floats down the runway. You then have two choices other than going around: plunk it on flat or nosewheel first, or run off the end of the runway. Either way, your airplane will be cringing in anticipation.
Few pilots would dispute that, in general, the goal of a normal landing is to put the airplane on the ground as slowly as possible, given the conditions. It's the application of the theory that seems to give people trouble.