flying in - the circling!

[sandy]

I have flown into aruba one time, and don't know if all the planes come in like this. We circled around the island a couple times, and the pilot had the airplane tipped at an uncomfortable angle. It was a little sickening, but obviously worth it. Just didn't know if I should expect every flight into aruba to be like this, or if it was just our pilot that day.

[Andrea J.]

that happened to us this past visit.
i mentioned to my husband that if we tilted to the left another inch, we'd flip over.
it did give for a spectacular view, albeit nauseating.
maybe the cockpit crews were busy on their laptops.

we have never circled the island......did the pilot or any of the cockpit crew make any kind of an announcement like.............air traffic, gotta make a loop?

once we landed from the opposite direction.
came in over the northeast (?) side, balashi factory and the ocean was on our left.
now that was BIZARRE, although it happens occasionally due to what i would guess as wind or weather.

[SanNic44]

There may be several reasons for circling the island. Among them: sequencing the traffic at the airport, lack of gate space, another plane on the ground is having difficulty with something, tower incompetence, and many more.

As for landing from one direction or the other: it is best to land an airplane "into the wind" and take off in the same manner. Wings generate lift by the the air flow over the surface. If the wind is from behind the wing, it must move that much faster to first "outrun" the tailwind and then get air flow over the surface. On those rare occasions when you land from the east to the west, it is because the wind is from that direction or else calm and the tower wants to use a different pattern.

As for the steepness of the turns. While the turn feels steep it is not really that many degrees. A 15 degree angle of turn is not all that bad, 30 degrees would feel steep to the average person. But if you were in a 45 degree turn you might start to feel the G-forces depending on how long you were in the turn.

Those pilots up front are very well trained, have lots of experience, and generally know what they're doing. Flying in Aruba, landing in particular, can be very challenging given the gusty winds which affect the plane much more than a steady wind.

Enjoy the flying.

44

[danadog56]

thanks sannic, I've wondered also a couple of times why the tilt and also as andrea mentioned coming in from a different side....always fly usair and was surprised on our last flight because of the direction we came in on...

[sandy]

Those sound like similar experiences to ours, and our pilot never said anything out of the ordinary. Thanks for all the info on flying in to Aruba - it puts my mind at ease a bit.

[SanNic44]

I forgot to mention that a flight instructor once told me the old adage that, "Any landing you walk away from is a good one."

Sorry about that.

44

[DushiHeidi]

Also I dont know what the restrictions on getting clearance to land are but I do know Aruba gets clearance from Curacao to land and take off for any plane. I have say on the runway in Aruba waiting for clearance from Curacao many times.

[Chadd]

Curacao is home of the regional control center if I remember correctly.

[SanNic44]

A KLM 747 executed a "missed approach" yesterday afternoon. Actually saw it happen while driving up the main road. Pilot flew around the pattern, came in, and landed quite nicely.

This non-incident made the local newspapers, too. Not sure why as everything was done correctly with the go-around.

44

[Edronenburg]

Whatever it takes...the bottom line...You are now in "Paradise" for a number of days/weeks; and can then enjoy all the sun; sand; friendliness and fun that one should deserve on a vacation.

Ed