Go-Arounds Are Awesome!

Just launched is Go-Arounds Are Awesome!, a new aviation safety initiative founded by flight instructor and pilot examiner Jim Pitman, who hopes the campaign will help pilots view a go-around as a normal, positive decision — not a failed landing attempt.

The campaign addresses a familiar hazard in general aviation: The temptation to continue an unstable approach, according to Pitman. Continuing an unstable approach can contribute to runway excursions, hard landings, and loss-of-control accidents.

Although pilots are trained to go-around, external pressures, goal-oriented thinking, and repeated successful outcomes from marginal approaches can make the safer choice feel unnecessarily difficult, he added.

“Pilots are wired to complete the mission,” he said. “That mindset can make a go-around feel like a failure, even when it is the best course of action. A go-around is awesome because it is evidence of good aeronautical decision-making.”

As an airline pilot, Pitman has experience operating within a safety culture that demands a stabilized approach and calls for an automatic rejection of the approach if those parameters are not met at a given altitude.

Go-Arounds Are Awesome! aims to complement training with a cultural shift. The campaign encourages pilots, instructors, and flight schools to positively reinforce go-arounds and to treat the decision to discontinue an approach as an example of sound judgment, he explained.

“Training teaches pilots how to execute a go-around, but culture determines whether they will actually do it when they should,” Pitman said. “If we can change how pilots feel about going around, we can change behavior — and help prevent accidents.”

The campaign’s lighthearted name is intentional. It is meant to replace the reluctant thought, “Oh no, I think I need to go around,” with a more constructive response: “I get to do a go-around and set up a better approach.”

At GoAroundsAreAwesome.com, pilots and instructors are encouraged to:

• Learn about stabilized approaches and go-arounds
• Sign the Go-Around Pledge
• Share GoAroundsAreAwesome.com with other pilots and instructors

For more information: GoAroundsAreAwesome.com