Video from a Phoenix airport livestream shows an American Airlines A319 registration selecting its gear late on short final – the video poster asserts the pilot simply forgot to do it – and having to execute a missed approach. The tower cancels a simultaneous departure and the crew climbs out. The pilot later stated the aircraft was not properly configured.
The flight was AA2822 from Austin to Phoenix on September 17. The pilot summarized the cause with characteristic economy: “wasn’t configured in [an] appropriate manner.”
The missed approach briefly rippled through runway 25R operations: with American flight 2341 cleared for takeoff, their clearance was cancelled and they were held in position while issuing go‑around instructions to AA2822—runway heading, climb to 6,000 ft, then a left turn to 220°.
The landing gear and flaps need to be set by 1,000 ft AGL (IMC) or 500 ft (VMC); if not, a go‑around is mandatory.
- When pilots say “stable by 1,000 ft in IMC / 500 ft in VMC,” they mean that by that height above the runway, everything for landing must already be set:on the right path, right speed, descent under control, gear down, landing flaps set, checklists done.
- AGL is ‘Above Ground Level’ or the height relative to the airport.
- IMC vs VMC is Instrument (in/near cloud, poor visibility) vs Visual conditions, and they need to be higher in instrument conditions to buy margin when you can’t rely on outside visuals.
A plane should be on the correct path, at target approach speed, and at a reasonable descent rate – with landing configuration set and briefings and landing checklist complete.
If the cockpit heard the “TOO LOW GEAR” callout, that is a designed guardrail to prompt the go-around decision, which happens with around 1 to 3 out of 1,000 approaches.
(HT: Paddle Your Own Kanoo)
Was it Pilot error?
Sounds like someone wasn’t reading through their checklist.
So reading through the entire article can be summarized as “pilot error”?
I expect a full write-up by Gary any time there’s a go-around (and a video by Captain Steeeve). Think of all the fresh daily content!
As always, there can be more to this than we (on the ground, outside the flight deck) can determine. Yes, it appears the gear was very late in coming down. Why? Could be any of the following or more:
– PF forgot to command it
– PF commanded it / PM neglected to put it down
– Intentionally violating SOPs and delaying gear extension trying to keep the speed up for sequencing
– PF was doing OE and got behind/overwhelmed/task saturated; the checkride-giving PM allowed the mistake to play itself out and let PF call for the gear too late, until it was necessary for the go around (on a checkride, the check airman will support the other pilot, but will not proactively correct mistakes unless the safety of the aircraft is in question)
While they LIKELY forgot the gear, there are other possibilities. They should also have received a “Too Low – Gear” alert at 500′ AGL (if below 190 kts) and it appears they were below 500′ when it came down, so it it was forgotten, I’d expect the gear to either cycle down sooner, or the go around to start earlier. But based only on observing from the ground, we really don’t know.
These events have always happened. Social media just allows them to be reported more to the general public.
As a tower controller, I would always check the arrival’s landing gear to see if it was down and notify them if it wasn’t, well before they were at 500′ agl.
A cockpit video I viewed online has a lever that is moved to raise or lower the landing gear as needed. There have been plenty of reports of landing gear not deploying when activated. Sometimes it deploys but the sensors don’t indicate it is locked in place. Rarely an airplane lands on gear that is not locked and ends up in a much worse situation. Because the airplane landed correctly after the go around, the data recorders would have been wiped so what actually happened will not be known. It could be pilot error or it could be an equipment problem. If it was an equipment problem, there should be a write up and the airplane should have been take out of service until it was checked by a mechanic.
I’m impressed that you were able to write ‘cockpit’ and it did not go to auto-moderation. I suppose Gary is correcting the bugs!
Nevermind, still goes to moderation. Wonder is it the first four letters that bothers it. Hmm. Cock-pit… perhaps, the bird, cockatoo, would also be an issue.
So, to summarize…
1. Crew makes a mistake and doesn’t lower landing gear in time for stabilized approach.
2. Crew realizes the error and does the right thing in going around.
3. Internet freaks out.
Nobody got hurt. Metal didn’t get bent. A few more gallons was burned. Now the crew has some splaining to do, but they got one more go around experience and will do the checklist correctly next time.
@ jns. Not true for flight data recorders, many now transmit real time to airline maintenance. You might be thinking of the CVR, Cockpit Voice Recorder, which does write over while aircraft powered and it is erasable from the flight deck when parking brake is set and engines shut down.
Having said that, it seems to me to be a relatively normal visual approach that went just a tad too far before being properly configured. The airplane will let the pilots know if landing flaps are selected and gear is not down.
@ 1990 the moderation doesn’t like STANDARD aviation term since my previous comment has gone to the penalty box
Sounds like one of the items on the checklist was ignored.
@Jackmeyhoffer — Is that you again @Un? With a name like that, one can only assume…
How this can happen. There’s a sequence to these things. If something is done out of order the gear can be missed. For example – gear down, flaps 3 is the normal call (some aircraft). But if ATC is slowing you down and you need flaps 3 but its WAY TOO EARLY for gear then you might call for flaps without gear. Then when you do the final flaps you could get a warning (again some planes). Personally I will not do things out of sequence and I will just put the gear down if I need those flaps. Yeah its early but it’s just annoyingly loud and rumbly but not unsafe. No harm no foul here. Go Around was appropriate.
mistakes happen. luckily they picked up the problem before they actually landed. Two pilots did not use the check list.
In a company I was with the crew carried out a night landing, forgot the gear, and actually landed gear up. No one hurt. But very costly.