Traveling by air, many people noted that landing does not always happen immediately. Sometimes the whirling continues until half an hour, an hour, although this can be considered a rarity. Why is this necessary, and is this not a sign of trouble? Should I worry in such a situation?
In order to understand this in detail, it is necessary to consider the main reasons why pilots make turns before landing.
Common Causes of Aircraft Circling
The airport runways are built taking into account the wind rose and geographical location (for example, the location of the mountains), characteristic of the area, have a strictly defined orientation. The bands are oriented so that the landing in most cases goes upwind, as this ensures safety, the minimum landing speed (the lifting force will be the sum of the aircraft’s speed plus the speed of the incident wind). The plane can come from any direction. If it flies, for example, from the south, the pilot needs to reorient the plane and level it in order to successfully land on the runway. To do this, he can do one or more circles. But this option is far from the only one.
In the airspace above airports, there are always many planes. To avoid collisions, it is divided in height into echelons, within each of which movement in only a certain direction is possible.The plane can circle, passing from echelon to echelon before landing.
In addition, the lanes can simply be occupied, then the dispatcher will not allow the pilot to land until the desired one is released. The pilot will have to keep the board in the air, circling over the airfield. At large airports, sometimes entire queues are lined up for landing, all aircraft waiting for permission are circling in the air. There can be up to a dozen or more.
Contingency due to unforeseen circumstances
Sometimes there is no possibility for a normal landing due to weather conditions. Too low visibility during fog, strong winds and other factors can create excessive risks when landing, in this case the dispatcher can keep airplanes in the air or redirect to other airfields where you can land without risk. If a very fast improvement in weather is expected, the plane may circulate for some time in the air awaiting permission.
If the emergency board enters the landing, the dispatcher will work primarily with him, the rest of the aircraft can remain in the air for this time, laying circles.
Interesting fact: the pilot does not have the right to land without the permission of the controller. All maneuvers in the airspace near the airport must be agreed in advance.
Aircraft spinning - is it worth worrying?
In very rare cases, the aircraft is forced to make circles due to breakage. A malfunction of the chassis and some other problems can force you to remain in the air, but these are usually not very serious problems that pilots manage to cope with.Indeed, in case of serious damage, the aircraft is, on the contrary, put out of turn. And therefore it is not worth worrying about bends. Sometimes it happens that the pilot does not fall into the strip, picks up the plane again and sends it into a turn to make the landing more accurate. This is rare, but this happens. In addition, spins are occasionally used to burn fuel residues. Usually it is poured with an accurate calculation of the time and distance of the flight, and a reserve of 45 minutes is added, because this reason is also rarely considered.
Normally, the aircraft should make one circle before approaching. Sometimes the dispatcher sends him to the second round, or asks him to stay in the air and circle, waiting for further instructions. Landing without making a circle is possible in the case when there are no other boards in the air above the airport, the dispatcher gives permission for such a maneuver in advance, if possible. If the plane will have to circle, the direction of movement is also discussed in advance. After all, it is not permanent, it can be changed depending on the direction and strength of the wind.
Thus, circling an airplane before boarding is a normal occurrence that should not be a concern to passengers. If there is only one circle - the plane is leveled before landing, if there are two or more - it is waiting for permission because of the congestion of the airfield, the presence of other boards on takeoff or landing, due to the fact that the strip is busy. Other causes of whirling are less common, as a rule, we are talking about one of the above situations.
