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MY FS FLIGHTS
Flight Score
Departure
Apply small rudder corrections against a point at the far end of the runway to hold the centreline during the roll.
What happened: The aircraft tracked 18 m off the runway centreline during the ground roll, and flights with this pattern usually carry extra bank, around 7.7°, into the first climb.
Watch for: Heading indicator: wings level, tracking the runway centreline
A small uncorrected heading error at 40 knots becomes a metre of offset per second by 100 knots, noticed only at rotation, producing a crabbed liftoff. Root cause is nearly always eyes on the tape instead of the far end of the runway. Small heading changes displace a distant point visibly long before the nearby centreline stripes look wrong.
Read more in Improve Your Take-OffsStart to finish · 15 stages, 14 scored
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The threshold, the flare and the hold-off. The approach that led to it is the stabilisation gates below.
Two stabilised approach gates, each with seven checks, where the approach path is 1,000 ft and 500 ft above the runway.
The approach, gate by gate
Side view — the last 1,524 m of the approach.
Plan view — the first 1,524 m of the 3,989 m runway, to the same scale as the side view.
Touched down 567 m past the threshold — beyond the full-score zone. The arrival was smooth.
The rest of the report
This flight was operated by a Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Before commencing, the plane took 5 minutes to taxi from the parking area to the runway at ELLX Luxembourg-Findel International Airport, a distance of less than 1 nautical mile. The departure rolled out on runway 24 and took off, covering a distance of 1,264 meters, which was 32 percent of the runway length.
The takeoff performance was good, with liftoff speed achieved at 149 knots. The local weather conditions at that time included a temperature of 15°C and a 5-knot wind blowing from a direction of 350°, with a resulting crosswind and tailwind of 5 and 2 knots, respectively.
The enroute climb commenced over the airport itself and reached an altitude of 6,043 feet above sea level in just 3 minutes, covering a distance of 7 nautical miles. The ascent began from a starting altitude of 2,158 feet and an increase of 3,885 feet was noted. Shortly after, the aircraft transitioned into a level cruise phase, maintaining its altitude over the town of Olm and covering a further 6 nautical miles in the process.
Following the cruise, the enroute descent started over Gosseldange, with the aircraft gradually losing altitude from 6,065 feet to 2,488 feet in 6 minutes, covering a distance of 9 nautical miles. After the descent phase, the aircraft entered the final approach, heading towards runway 24 from the northeast at an altitude of 1,290 feet above ground level.
Landing was made on the 3,989-meter runway, and despite the initially reported threshold speed being too high (149 kt), the landing itself went smoothly. The touchdown point was 170 meters beyond the designated touchdown zone, but the touchdown speed of 144 kt was slightly too fast. Additionally, the touchdown rate was fair at -208 feet per minute.
It is worth noting that the runway touchdown alignment was very good despite the adverse weather conditions, which were consistent with the pre-landing phase, as a low temperature of 14°C and an equally strong wind blowing at 5 knots from 350° resulted in a crosswind of 5 kt and tailwind of 2 kt.
The total flight distance covered was 27 nautical miles, taking approximately 15 minutes to complete, during which 646 kilograms of fuel were consumed.
The aircraft in question, a Boeing 737-800, successfully landed at Luxembourg-Findel International Airport on runway 24 with a grade of 94.2%. The flight began its final approach to the runway from the north east, heading 240.0° at an altitude of 4 nautical miles and 1,290 feet above ground level (agl).
Upon touching down on the runway, the aircraft landed approximately 170 meters beyond the designated touchdown zone, which may suggest a slight miscalculation in the pilot's judgment of touchdown point. The initial threshold speed of 149 knots was also higher than required, which could indicate that the pilots did not adequately manage the aircraft's speed during descent. Conversely, the touchdown speed at 144 kt, which occurred after touching down, was also reported as being too fast, implying that the pilots may have taken longer than expected to fully decelerate the aircraft.
Despite these issues with speed, the touchdown rate of -208 feet per minute (fpm) was considered fair, and the runway touchdown alignment was deemed to be very good, implying smooth and controlled descent. Considering the weather conditions at the time of landing, the temperature was at 14°C, and the wind was moderate, ranging from 5 kt at 350°. This relatively light wind did not significantly impact the flight in terms of crosswind or tailwind.
Overall, the landing of the Boeing 737-800 at ELLX Luxembourg-Findel International Airport was successful despite the issues highlighted in the report. Addressing these concerns, such as maintaining accurate threshold speeds and touchdown points, will be necessary to further improve the pilots' performance.
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