A SA Airways Airbus A340 was yesterday forced to abort a landing moments before touching down on a runway at Heathrow Airport in London.

In the early morning, flight SA220 from Cape Town to London pulled up and performed a "go-around", circling the busy airport after dropping to about 160m above the runway.

A passenger on board told The Star he was "shocked" when the engines fired up to full-throttle. "I was thrown back into the headrest of my seat," said the passenger, a frequent international flyer, who said he had "never experienced anything like it before".

The passenger said the pilot explained that air traffic controllers had brought the SAA Airbus in to land, despite a heavy tailwind behind the aircraft.

"The plane should not have been landing in that condition," the passenger said. He said he also understood from the crew that another flight was approaching the same runway as SA220, but from a different direction.

"I'm pretty sure the air traffic controllers are never going to admit they were wrong and Heathrow will deny everything, but all I can say is thank God for those two brilliant SAA pilots. Without them, we would have been eating concrete."

SAA spokeswoman Robyn Chalmers said SA220 "reported no abnormal incidences during the flight or on landing".

"It was however reported that the captain made a decision to do what is known as a "go-around"… this is a normal manoeuvre performed at the captain's discretion, and is encouraged if he believes circumstances or conditions are not appropriate to make a safe landing."

Chalmers said that the go-around was weather-related.

An SAA pilot (who was not involved) told The Star yesterday that the go-around was practised every six months and was drummed into them.

"If you're not happy, put your pride in your pocket and go around," he said, adding that it can be performed even if it means touching the ground and taking off again.

Another source said a go-around (also known as a "missed approach") can be unnerving for passengers, as it meant the wings had to be re-configured (with flaps being retracted), the undercarriage folded up and the plane powering up to full thrust. "There are a lot of vibrations," he said.

A go-around is performed when a plane is not sufficiently stable, in freak winds, poor visibility or obstructing traffic below (when a landed plane is still on the runway).

Source: The Star

By Special correspondent