1
$\begingroup$

Top DGCA officials say they do not recall any other instance of this kind where a plane tried to land unsuccessfully six times and then finally touched down in the seventh attempt — whether in India or abroad. (Source)

A better written report of the incident.

Coming to the question, what has been the maximum number of failed landing attempts for any fully loaded commercial airliner?

$\endgroup$
6
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ possible duplicate of Multiple go-arounds on the same flight in commercial aviation? $\endgroup$
    – aeroalias
    Aug 25, 2015 at 15:50
  • $\begingroup$ To be fair - it was three attempts at the first field, then a divert for weather, followed by further attempts at the second field which also had bad weather. But still probably hard to beat, except deliberately... $\endgroup$
    – Andy
    Aug 25, 2015 at 15:53
  • $\begingroup$ @aeroalias Hmm... While this flight is addressed in the other question, I'm not sure that it definitively answers the specific question posed here. $\endgroup$
    – reirab
    Aug 25, 2015 at 16:35
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ @reirab I'm not sure the trivia answer ("How many, what's the record?") is particularly relevant to aviation (and if it were a record someone wanted to have for some reason I suppose the pilot could just keep rejecting the landing and going around until they beat the number, or the passengers rioted over missing their connecting flights). $\endgroup$
    – voretaq7
    Aug 25, 2015 at 17:23
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I don't think this is a duplicate at all. The other question is "do multiple go-arounds happen? tell me some stuff about them" and is quite vague IMO. This is a much more specific (and therefore better-quality) question. $\endgroup$
    – Dan Hulme
    Aug 25, 2015 at 18:13

1 Answer 1

2
$\begingroup$

As far as I know, nobody actually maintains a register of go around. A go around is not a failure, nor a fault.

However each missed approach reduces the fuel quantity which may become insufficient. The crew will not continue to try to land at the same airport if the likelihood of better conditions at the alternate airport are high.

$\endgroup$
2
  • $\begingroup$ This doesn't really answer the question. Although no one may be tracking every go-around, if a flight has 6 or more, there is probably something going on that someone will take note of. $\endgroup$
    – fooot
    Aug 25, 2015 at 22:29
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @fooot. Yes and no... Cargo aircraft in hard weather conditions (Nordic countries) or Russian cargo aircraft in Africa may accumulate GA and no one talking about them. Maybe the question should be limited to passenger flights and more than 100 seats. $\endgroup$
    – mins
    Aug 25, 2015 at 22:58

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .