clipped_wings
Established Member
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2016
- Posts
- 1,109
Hi all, just completed a short trip to Uluru with my family. A curious thing happened on VA1627 on 2 June and I am hoping the experts here may shed some light.
After a very routine and pleasant flight ex Sydney, we prepared to land at Uluru. Some chunky cloud cover had made it difficult to see much as we descended, but we punched through it with ease and were just hovering over the beginning of the runway. All of a sudden, the engines fired up, we hit the steepest incline I thought possible - and roared back up into the clouds. The turbines went into overdrive as we climbed quite high. I did what every normal thinking passenger would do. I glanced at the crew. They looked as bewildered as me, so we all just murmured between ourselves and kept calm, but our 14 year old autistic son went ballistic, as he was busting to use the toilet and refused to go during the flight.
The captain came on and announced that he was sorry, but we were going into a holding pattern until the situation could be assessed. I have no idea what that meant. He first said it was due to the weather and mentioned bumpy landings, then came back and said congestion on the runway, so I guess there may have been some issues with other aircraft not getting out of the way in time.
We did a few banks and stayed up for another 10 minutes before heading back down for a smooth landing. It was damp, but not raining and there were no other planes at the airport.
My question is this: Do pilots give you the actual story when things like this happen? Or are they obliged to say whatever needs to be said in order to keep the calm. Passengers were all very good natured and none of us thought we were ever in any danger, but I was curious to know if others here have experienced this scenario before.
NB; Sadly, our son soiled himself before we could get to a restroom and was extremely distressed, but I doubt there was much anyone could have done for him, so I don't hold anyone responsible.
After a very routine and pleasant flight ex Sydney, we prepared to land at Uluru. Some chunky cloud cover had made it difficult to see much as we descended, but we punched through it with ease and were just hovering over the beginning of the runway. All of a sudden, the engines fired up, we hit the steepest incline I thought possible - and roared back up into the clouds. The turbines went into overdrive as we climbed quite high. I did what every normal thinking passenger would do. I glanced at the crew. They looked as bewildered as me, so we all just murmured between ourselves and kept calm, but our 14 year old autistic son went ballistic, as he was busting to use the toilet and refused to go during the flight.
The captain came on and announced that he was sorry, but we were going into a holding pattern until the situation could be assessed. I have no idea what that meant. He first said it was due to the weather and mentioned bumpy landings, then came back and said congestion on the runway, so I guess there may have been some issues with other aircraft not getting out of the way in time.
We did a few banks and stayed up for another 10 minutes before heading back down for a smooth landing. It was damp, but not raining and there were no other planes at the airport.
My question is this: Do pilots give you the actual story when things like this happen? Or are they obliged to say whatever needs to be said in order to keep the calm. Passengers were all very good natured and none of us thought we were ever in any danger, but I was curious to know if others here have experienced this scenario before.
NB; Sadly, our son soiled himself before we could get to a restroom and was extremely distressed, but I doubt there was much anyone could have done for him, so I don't hold anyone responsible.