Detail view of 747 aborted landing - Boston Logan

Gary thank you for giving me a good laugh at the end of the day!!! :)

Did you see the windsock on the go around? Tailwind component was quite high.

I guess that would be a good reason. LOL.

makes sense....wind was from 210 Deg.

Actually it probably was because the ship was around 3000' down from the start of the runway. Ideally, the touchdown zone is 1500' from the end of the runway.

Great observation Gene!

Thank you Chris, it is always a bit scary for me to see one of these big planes go around (and that is from the ground) - I can only imagine what it is like to be a passenger! I know it probably does not bother the pilots who probably all have to go around from time to time, but still makes my heart pound! I remember a BA747 that went around very close to the ground about three of four years ago, it was a foggy, foggy early evening. Was that your flight? :)

Thank you! :)

Thank you William! :)

Thanks Gene!!! You heading out to catch the Hainan inaugural flight today?

A runway change is a pain in the *** for everybody involved, including the pilots. At a volume airport, it would be nice to clear everything out, send 'em all around for the new line up, but in most cases it is a have to case and you don't have that luxury of time. Generally, when mother nature makes a change, she doesn't warn anyone.

You also can see he had maybe 5,500 feet left of a 10,000 ft runway before the cut to the taxiing scene.

Nope!

Like fail to establish a stable approach on speed and glideslope?

No, only Aisana captains with no experience in type do that.

Never flew Southern Air or the old Agony Airlines
(Allegheny, actually. Predecessor in part to U.S. Air), eh? PS: Don't mean to step on any toes, but sometimes ta' gotta call it what it is (or was).

You can see the windsock after he aborts it, looks like a fairly strong tailwind.

When you are that low, you want the gear down and locked until you get a PRC and are flying again. You want to keep them between you and the runway in case you are too low. As Fred says above, fly the plane first.

The question I have is whether this information is actually tracked? As a passenger, go-arounds are unnerving because they frequently happen in windy conditions. But I'm sure the pilots are drilled on this constantly and probably have plenty of first-hand experience at performing the maneuver.
I cannot recall any crashes that have resulted from attempted go-arounds. It is entirely possible that the FAA does not require this data to be reported.

A second question is at what point the go-around takes place. I've been on planes for go-arounds three times and witnessed a fourth fairly close from outside:
1. Our plane was about 100 feet above the runway on a windy day at Albuquerque. The pilot went-around because he said that another plane had not cleared the runway, but looking out the window and being familiar with the airport, I knew we were not going to land on the runway if he piloted it all the way down. 10 more minutes of bumps before coming around and landing.
2. Going to Denver on a wonderful day, a passenger decided to go to the lav about 60 seconds before touchdown. The attendant notified the pilot and we went around from about 2,000 feet up. No big deal except for those with tight connections.
3. Most recently, again in Albuquerque, our pilot aborted the approach from well over 3,000 as he said the wind changed directions. No big deal - he switched runways and landed.
4. Also at Albuquerque, viewing from the ground on a windy day, the crosswind let up as a 737 came in. From no more than 20 feet above the ground, the pilot was not going to hit the runway (as in, land in the dirt) when initiating a go-around. That had to be unnerving to the passengers because they had literally all but landed.

All four instances the plane went around with no real fanfare and landed just fine. For me, however, the easiest one was from the highest altitude. Not all go-arounds are equal in this regard.

Set up? You mean...like the controllers were having a slow day so thought they would have some fun? :)

Low-level windshear is a very real phenomena. I've experienced it. All it really is is a sudden change in direction and/or velocity. It does not take a lot to get you.

It can occur in the bottom fifty to a hundred feet while the rest of the approach to that point is perfectly normal and stable. We see the wind sock only after the go-around. There's no indication what it was doing prior to that.

But you can see on this history the wind varied through the day with up to a twenty-knot swing in velocity. That's quite a change on airspeed of any aircraft and no less of an effect on a bird exceeding 500,000 pounds.

http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBOS/2014/6/16/DailyHistory.html?req_city=Logan+International&req_state=MA&req_statename=Massachusetts

I'd recommend getting an experienced instructor and flying a couple approaches into the wind with landing. Then fly a couple with downwind landings. You will see a dramatic effect on how that aircraft reacts as well as touching down much faster than you're used to in addition to changing power, descent rate, etc. It will be a learning experience and a worthwhile one. Besides, it's good to know how your own plane will respond should you ever have to land downwind in an emergency.

They got a wind check shortly before the go-around. Winds can and do shift all the time, and perhaps they had been a tailwind beforehand, but within limits. Consider the time between the non flying pilot getting the winds, assume a brief discussion with the flying pilot, and you'll fill the delay between the radio call and the go-around.

Well never heard pilot call it out to ATC but you hear them giving him instructions. I believe I heard them tell him "Maintain runway heading and 3000'" or something to that effect.

Hi Jeff - this was actually the live talk for this event. I did not hear/record the pilot call out a go. But, I have observed many of these over the last few years while I had my radio on the tower channel. Sometimes the pilot will call out immediately and sometimes not over the radio, that I have heard anyway. I have also heard the tower ask, sometimes but not always, "what is the reason for the go". I have only heard the tower tell a pilot to go around on three or four occasions and those were all for runway issues like another plane or vehicle on the runway.