Heathrow congestion cause landing fears
17.07.08
A travel writer has warned about congestion at Heathrow Airport after his plane was forced to abort its landing at the last moment when the pilot spotted another jet on the runway, the Hounslow Chronicle reports.
The writer, who lives in Brentford but asked to remain anonymous, said his flight from Vancouver was seconds from touching down on Saturday when it banked steeply without warning. He told the newspaper: ‘I've flown thousands of times before and never experienced anything like it.'
‘Whilst these go-arounds are a routine procedure they are still very rare and potentially dangerous to perform as a plane can stall and crash when it has to climb rapidly. It's both worrying and annoying that this one seems to have been caused by Heathrow's congestion.’
However, a spokesman for National Air Traffic Services (NATS), which manages flights into and out of Heathrow, insisted passengers were never in any danger. He told the newspaper: ‘The aircraft performed a go-around, which is a standard procedure. This happens when a pilot recognises it would be safer to come round and land again, whether that's due to weather conditions, the aircraft itself or another plane being slower than expected vacating the runway.’
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