


It basically tells the plane to ignore everything, including the autopilots, and increase the throttle as quickly as possible. He or she is ready to perform the final landing maneuvers (see below), or switch gears and do a "TO/GA." What a cool button this is. The pilot flying the plane relies on his or her co-pilot to look at the electronic landing cues and instruments to make sure that the plane is on track for a landing. (Each plane you fly has at least two these days, two separate autopilots). Before landing, a pilot will input the height of that fix - usually around 3,000 feet, into an autopilot computer.

Every runway comes with its own "missed approach fix," which is where a plane knows to go automatically if it can't stick the landing. The flaps and slats - the thingies that extend from the wings during take-off and landing - are retracted to a take-off posture the throttle is pushed up then the plane pitches up slightly one positive climb (i.e., it's going up) has been established, then the pilots will retract the landing gear. For the most part, though, if a plane is more than fifteen seconds from touching down, it can safely and seamlessly execute a go-around maneuver. Whereabouts are you from? youngzilla The latter question is hard to answer perhaps the pilots genuinely did not notice they were in trouble until it was too late.
