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Go-Around

What Is a Go-Around?

· 3 min read

A go-around is when a landing aircraft aborts its approach, climbs away, and circles back to try again. It's a routine, planned safety manoeuvre — not an emergency. Here's why it happens.

A go-around is when an aircraft that’s lined up to land stops its descent, adds power, and climbs away instead of touching down — then circles around to try the approach again. It can feel dramatic if you’re on board, with the engines suddenly spooling up and the plane pitching skyward, but it’s one of the most routine safety manoeuvres in aviation. Every pilot trains for it, and it’s always planned before the approach even begins.

Why aircraft go around

A go-around happens whenever landing isn’t the safe choice at that moment. The usual reasons:

  1. The runway isn’t clear — the aircraft ahead hasn’t vacated yet, or a vehicle or animal is on the runway.
  2. An unstable approach — the aircraft is too high, too fast, or not properly lined up. If it isn’t “stable” by a set point, procedure calls for a go-around rather than forcing the landing.
  3. Weather — a sudden wind shift, a strong gust, or reduced visibility can make the crew break off and reassess.
  4. A controller instruction — air traffic control may send an aircraft around to keep spacing when the traffic sequence gets too tight.

In every case the logic is the same: it is far better to climb away and try again than to salvage a bad landing.

What actually happens

When the crew decides to go around, they follow a well-rehearsed sequence: power up, pitch up, climb, clean up. They apply takeoff-level thrust, raise the nose to start climbing, retract the landing gear and flaps in stages, and follow the published missed-approach path for that runway.

From there, the aircraft is usually handed back to approach control, which slots it back into the arrival flow for a second attempt. If the airport is busy, the aircraft may be sent into a holding pattern to wait its turn before trying again.

Is it an emergency?

Almost never. A go-around is a normal procedure, not a failure. Pilots practise it constantly in the simulator, and airline policy actively encourages a go-around any time an approach doesn’t look right — no questions asked. The manoeuvre exists precisely so that a marginal approach never becomes a bad landing.

What you’ll see on the radar

On the FlyOverhead radar, a go-around gives itself away by the shape of the track: an aircraft descends steadily toward an airport, then suddenly stops descending and starts climbing again, often turning away from the runway. Its altitude ticks back up instead of reaching the ground.

If you then see it loop around and line up a second time — or join a stack of aircraft circling nearby — you’ve just watched a go-around unfold: a normal reset, ending in a safe landing a few minutes later.

Frequently asked

What is a go-around?

A go-around is when an aircraft on final approach stops its descent, applies power, and climbs away instead of landing. The crew then flies a set path to line up for another approach. It's a normal, trained-for manoeuvre — not an emergency.

Why do planes go around instead of landing?

Common reasons include the runway not being clear in time, the aircraft being too high or too fast to land safely, an unstable approach, a sudden wind shift, or a controller instruction. Going around is always the safe choice when a landing isn't right.

Is a go-around dangerous?

No. A go-around is a standard safety procedure that every pilot trains for repeatedly. It simply resets the approach so the crew can try again under better conditions. It may feel dramatic from a passenger seat, but it's routine.