The Go-Around: Knowing When to Give a Landing Another Try

A go-around is a normal option

The FAA describes a go-around as discontinuing a landing approach and returning the aircraft to an altitude and configuration suitable for another approach. A pilot can choose it, and a controller can direct it. The decision itself is a routine part of managing a flight.

For a student, a helpful change in mindset is to make the lesson objective “recognize and fly an appropriate approach,” rather than “touch down on every attempt.” Talk to your instructor about what a good decision looks like even when the flight does not end with the landing you expected. Choosing another approach is not a reason to rush the next one.

Know what a stable approach should look like

FAA guidance describes a stabilized approach in terms of a consistent glidepath toward a selected point, with appropriate airspeed and configuration. Excess speed, excess altitude, and unnecessary maneuvering can work against that stability.

Before a lesson, ask your instructor to define the target picture for the aircraft and conditions: speed, configuration, alignment, descent, and the point by which those should be established. Have the conversation on the ground, when neither of you is trying to solve a landing at the same time. Avoid borrowing a speed or a decision height from a different airplane or operating procedure.

• What approach criteria will we use today?
• At what point will we discontinue an approach that does not meet them?
• What runway or traffic change would require a go-around?
• Who will make which call during practice, and how will control be transferred if needed?

Discuss the triggers before you need them

Use a ground exercise to practice recognizing a decision point. Your instructor can describe an approach that remains too fast, requires large corrections, or has uncertain runway availability. Say what you noticed and what you would do next. These are discussion scenarios, not a complete list of operational criteria.

Include an example where everything looks good until something changes. That keeps the exercise from becoming a memorized test in which only a poor approach leads to a go-around. A landing clearance does not oblige you to continue when conditions no longer support a safe landing.

Learn the maneuver in the airplane you fly

This article is about the decision, not a substitute for the aircraft’s approved procedures. Review the applicable POH or AFM, checklist, and instructor guidance for the airplane, including its actual configuration and modifications. Do not use another Cessna or Piper’s numbers simply because the model name sounds familiar.

Ask your instructor to connect each action in the procedure to its purpose and to demonstrate and supervise the practice. Review aircraft control, the flightpath, traffic awareness, and communication together. Knowing the words in a procedure and performing it reliably under workload are different learning steps.

Debrief the decision as well as the maneuver

Afterward, work through three questions: what changed, when did you recognize it, and what made the decision easier or harder? Then review the maneuver against the aircraft procedure and your instructor’s expectations. Keep the feedback concrete enough to prepare for the next flight.

Notice pressure as well. Were you trying to finish the lesson, avoid another circuit, or make a landing look good to someone watching? Bring that up in the debrief. A useful lesson gives you a clearer plan for the next approach and more confidence in choosing another attempt when needed.