Go-Around / Missed Approach

A go-around is the procedure in which a flight crew aborts an approach to landing, applies full thrust, climbs away from the runway environment, and repositions the aircraft for another approach or a diversion. It is one of the most critical and safety-critical maneuvers in commercial aviation — and also one of the most important, because a properly executed go-around is always safer than a continued unstabilized approach.

What Is a Go-Around?

During the approach phase, pilots follow standardized checklists and continuously monitor the aircraft's configuration, descent rate, airspeed, and alignment with the runway. Airlines and regulators define "stabilized approach" criteria that must be met by specific altitudes — typically 1,000 feet above field elevation in instrument meteorological conditions and 500 feet in visual conditions. If the approach becomes unstabilized at or below these gates — meaning the aircraft is too fast, too slow, too high, off centerline, not fully configured, or responding to a sudden wind shear — the crew is required by airline standard operating procedures (SOPs) to execute a go-around immediately. ATC can also initiate a go-around by instructing the crew to "go around" if a runway becomes occupied, a preceding aircraft is slow to vacate, or traffic spacing collapses. Additionally, an automatic go-around can be triggered by a Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) Resolution Advisory (RA) that commands a climb.

How It Works in Practice

The go-around procedure begins with the pilot flying applying maximum continuous thrust, pitching up to a climb attitude, retracting the landing gear, and configuring the flaps progressively as airspeed increases. The aircraft follows the published Missed Approach Procedure (MAP) — a charted climb path and heading that guides the aircraft away from terrain and back into ATC-managed airspace without conflicting with other traffic. The crew simultaneously communicates with ATC, declares the go-around, and receives vectors or instructions for the next approach or, if the situation requires, a diversion to the alternate. The entire sequence from thrust application to positive climb is trained exhaustively in full-flight simulators, and airlines require all flight crews to demonstrate proficiency in go-around execution during recurrent training every six to twelve months.

Why It Matters

Go-arounds are fundamentally a safety mechanism, yet airlines and crews have historically faced cultural pressure to minimize them for schedule and cost reasons. Each go-around burns additional fuel (typically 200 to 600 kilograms on a narrowbody depending on the altitude and subsequent approach), adds 10 to 20 minutes to block time, and can cause cascading delays through the schedule. Safety data consistently shows, however, that landing accidents attributed to continued unstabilized approaches — runway excursions, hard landings, and tail strikes — are far more costly in lives, aircraft damage, and liability than any number of go-arounds. IATA's Approach and Landing Accident Reduction (ALAR) program and the Flight Safety Foundation have extensively documented that the rate of continued unstabilized approaches is a key leading indicator of landing accident risk. The NTSB's 2019 report on landing safety recommended that airlines strengthen go-around culture and remove any implicit pressure on crews to continue approaches.

Key Facts and Figures

• Industry studies estimate that only 1 to 3 percent of approaches that become unstabilized at the stabilization gate actually result in a go-around, indicating significant non-compliance with SOPs.
• A go-around on a Boeing 737 burns approximately 200 to 350 kg of additional fuel depending on approach altitude and airspace routing for the subsequent approach.
• EASA's 2021 Annual Safety Review identified continued flight into adverse conditions (including continued unstabilized approaches) as a top fatal accident category.
• Heathrow Airport (LHR) averages approximately 15 to 25 go-arounds per day due to its dense traffic, complex approach procedures, and frequent low-visibility operations.
• Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data analyzed by aviation safety researchers shows that go-around rates vary significantly by airport, airline, and weather conditions — foggy airports like SFO show higher go-around frequencies.
• The go-around maneuver from a Category III ILS approach in near-zero visibility is considered one of the most demanding tasks in commercial aviation and requires specific training and recency requirements.

Related Concepts

Stabilized Approach, Missed Approach Procedure, TCAS, Crosswind Landing, ILS