The approach, albeit smooth, soon became unsteady, with both the wing and engine coming unnervingly close to the ground, much more so than the plane’s opposite side.
Anyone who has ever flown into Wellington Airport on a blustery day will no doubt sympathise.
While the pilots very nearly steadied the wayward plane, they decided to fire up the engines and abort the landing.
A good decision
While an aborted landing can be an unsettling prospect – and certainly terrifying to watch, it is often the safest measure in less-than-ideal conditions.
Air Services Australia assures fliers that a go-around is a standard manoeuvre that “does not constitute any sort of emergency or threat to safety” and will likely be based on a decision made by the pilot or an air traffic controller due to “debris on the runway, an aircraft (or vehicle) that has not yet cleared the runway or an aircraft that has been slow to take-off “.
Or in the case of the Qantas 737, “adverse weather conditions, including strong winds, experienced by the aircraft on final approach.”
Prepare yourself
With Metservice listing Wellington, Dunedin, Napier and Christchurch as some of New Zealand’s most turbulent airports, it’s wise to know what you’re in for if a go-around occurs.
Air Services Australia explains that “during a go-around, a pilot will point the aircraft nose up, apply full take-off power to the engine(s), retract the landing gear and flaps and climb into the traffic pattern to circle around for another approach.”
While that may feel like quite a shock for passengers anticipating a smooth landing, it’s a procedure pilots are well-trained in.
