These Pilots Made a Terrifying Mistake!

A passenger filmed the terrifying moment that an Airbus 320 completely missed the runway and you'll be shocked to find out why!

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[afreightdogslife]

Hello Hoover. As a former B747 captain, we were trained to execute CAT-IIIB approaches, I personally did several autolands in VFR and IFR weather conditions as mandated by the aircraft's monthly requirement - for equipment checking and legalities, we landed many times when others could only dream to land. All we needed to see was one light in order to touchdown on a "Zero, zero landing." The first time I did one of these landings in real ze⁷ro, zero visibility, I remember that we checked and rechecked our equipment so many times over and over, after we were satisfied that everything was set up as required, a tense calm was felt by all of us in that cockpit, in the middle of a German winter night, there we were, waiting to hear the electronic cadence of the altitude alert calling out numbers as they were getting smaller and smaller, a feel of impending doom at anytime, was an awful feeling. Even thought we had done this very same maneuver many times over and over, doing it for real, for the first time, takes in a different meaning.
Low visibility approaches and landings made from a low visibility approach are something to be done by a trained professional crew and not by the occasional weekend flyer.
I still remember when I saw that faint glow of a single centerline light bulb, I felt so relieved and that's when I heard the crew breathing normally once again, as the aircraft's wheels softly touchdown on the center of that runway, the speed break handle deploying, the autobrakes immediately starting to slowdown the aircraft. It was a great feeling of success and accomplishment. Yes it was tense but unbelievably rewarding for us.
As always, thank you for posting your videos as they are spot on and to the point.
Good job, Hoover.

[mikefendel]

A full approach briefing includes what runway lights to expect. On my 727 Captain rating ride in the simulator back in 1991, I briefed the VASI lights would be on the left side of the runway. My training and execution truly peaked on that day and in the debrief with the Check Airman the only thing he could find to complain about was that the simulator had the VASA lights on the right side of the runway. My IP from the right seat then spoke up and told the Check Airman that the charts in the simulator were wrong and that I had briefed what the chart said but the sim had the lights on the right. Had the Captain on this flight checked the charted lights he would have known that the runway did not have centerline ights. Perhaps it wasn't part of their company procedures to brief the lights but had it been and had he done that this event would not have occured. Thanks for another great Pilot Debrief and I look forward to the next one!

[airbuscap]

In the US, as airline pilots, we are so used to CL lights we expect a certain picture out the window. Was lining up on a runway without them once and was attempting to line up on the opposite side edge lights. I caught it in time and was wondering why I had made such a mistake in the first place. It was weird and disheartening. Same runway later was about to do it again but caught it much sooner and then understood why it had happened. It’s easy to see how this mishap could happen if he was expecting a certain picture when he broke out. I’ll definitely be briefing the none/existence of CL lights in the future. Thanks for this. Love your work.

[aprilfisher]

Hoover, you have taught me more about airplanes and flying in a couple of hours than I ever knew in my whole life. Keep up the great work, can't wait to keep getting debriefed.😊

[matbasterson]

I retired from the Air Force as a Weather Forecaster. I have been a civilian Aviation Weather Observer for 15 years at our local airport. We maintain the Weather office hours the same as our ATC. I have been a part of several Aircraft Mishap investigations providing a Special Observation and archiving weather data ahead of and after the mishap. I love your channel, this video in particular was incredibly interesting.

[stephenembrey]

I love your videos and your input to the Aviation community I've been flying since I was 13 years old, I am now 64, I have over 35, 000 hours of flying time civilian military etc. I appreciate your input on all these things it is very important to the younger generation. Most every one of these accidents could have been prevented throughout all of your stories as you know, it is so wonderful you point them out. You flying for the Air Force for a long time, myself as well we have lost many of our wonderful buddies due to Unforeseen strange circumstances, and it is never a single thing, it is a bunch of bad decisions is minuscule as they may be but when you put them all together prior to a flight, it can easily be enough to wipe you out. I know you have lost many friends of yours And I have also, I really appreciate you getting on a roll to try to help keep people in a wake up mode so stupid decisions can hopefully be prevented. You do a great job you really do a great job. It is highly possible that I could have been one of your instructors Wayback in the past, no idea but keep doing what you're doing, very proud of you!

[johnpatrick]

To the current and future copilots. Your life is worth more than a job so speak up and act if obvious errors are being made.

[peepers]

I love watching your videos, although I’m not a pilot, you explain things in a way that makes it easy to understand. Thank you

[kaptainkaos]

Many years ago I was a Naval Aircrewman on the Navy P-3 and was stationed at Patuxent River, MD. It was winter, after dark and weather was rough. Clouds were thick with heavy rain so the pilot opted for the controller calling altitude and bearings. I forget the name of that type of approach. I was sitting on the radar cabinet behind the pilot in command so I got to see everything. We’re defending thru the crud it’s some very light turbulence. Finally we get thru the clouds at about 300-500 feet AGL. The copilot calls tallyho on the field and says he’s the field for a visual approach and turned to the left about 30 degrees. We could see the lights in front of us but as things got clearer we could see lights under us. White, red and green lights. This was the main road coming up to the main gate off our base. About the time the tower radios to ask why we turned the pilot in command called GO AROUND! Yea, power lines, towers and a few taller buildings. We got lucky.

[day]

I love Hoover’s little head shake during the moment in the vid when the plane smacks the turf.

[billybud]

clear and concise debrief, as always.

[psjasker]

Once again, best damn aviation channel on Youtube! Should be mandatory to watch for ATPs

[hillcrestvideoprod]

This is such a great channel…the best of the genre, in my opinion. Short, well illustrated and explained. Thank you!

[jasonworden]

I'm glad I clicked on your videos. Not a pilot and I don't even fly, but I've always been fascinated by air crash investigations. I love your style. Respectful, informative, and not annoying 😆. Also, has anyone ever told you that you look like Steve-O? You could be brothers! Definitely SUBSCRIBED to this channel! LOVE IT

[jamieobermeyer]

Hoover, I'm not a pilot, but as an engineer i really enjoy your thorough and informative debriefs! I'm glad this one comes with a happy ending despite the substantial errors. As 64 year old mechanical engineering instructor, i strive to present myself as approachable and fallible so that my students feel free to speak up if I make a mistake in class. Do you think the use of military-adjacent terms (captain, first-operator, command, etc.) contributes to the reluctance of junior co-pilots to speak up? Also, while Americans are typically pretty informal, in many cultures factors like rank and age are forefront, perhaps contributing to the reluctance.

Thanks for all you are doing.

[miguelservetus]

You videos are so educational. I find your demeanor. Very professional. I’ld appreciate being a passenger on your plane.
Please keep posting.

[gonetoearth]

The ultimate problem and the elephant in the room is the lack of experience of pilots of smaller rapidly growing private airlines. Especially outside the US. Shortages lead to poor and quick training with little over sight leading to events like this or obviously worse. I am frightened to see FO right seat pilots as PF in these conditions that have total hours less than me as a GA pilot.

Great analysis. Keep up the awesome content. Ty

[johangw]

Hello Hoover,
Great video! As usual

[Chief-]

Great and informative channel. Not a pilot and, prior to weeks ago, have never watched any videos about flying. Since then I’ve watched a lot of Hoover’s videos and some of the other similar channels and I’ve learned quite a bit of the high-level basics/terminology in a few weeks and plan to continue learning more. Thanks Hoover.

[billeldon]

I know that airline accidents are disappearingly rare, but am amazed at how many ways things can go wrong and normally don’t. But then, I spent 30 years in insurance claims and am still amazed at how many ways drivers can cause collisions on the ground while operating in only two dimensions.