Emergency Landing: Things You Don't Want to Hear

You on board a plane flying from Munich to Los Angeles when the stewardess announced that you are going to take an emergency landing. Your heart starts beating fast and you begin to breathe heavily. “We're gonna die. We're gonna die,” you thought. You don't really understand what an emergency landing is but the word “emergency” just freaks you out.

An emergency landing is when an aircraft does a non-planned landing. It does not necessarily mean that your plane is going to crash. However, there is surely something wrong with the aircraft, the flight or any of the passengers. This is usually done when there is a problem which interferes with the aircraft operation or when there is a sudden medical emergency. Thus, the aircraft needs to divert to the nearest airport.

There are three types of emergency landing. These are forced landing, crash landing and ditching.

In forced landing, the plane is forced to divert from the intended route or flight path to land. This is not necessarily due to technical problems. It occurs when the plane can still fly but needs to land for an emergency. It can be because a passenger needs urgent medical attention that the plane cannot provide or police assistance is needed. It is also done when there is a potential major system failure. To avoid it, it needs to land on the nearest airport.

Crash landing is something that you don't want the stewardess to be talking about. It means that due to a system damage or failure, a landing must be attempted. Crash landing takes place when there is no runway nearby and it cannot reach the closest airport. It also occurs when vital systems such as hydraulics, engines or landing gear fails to work. The pilot tries to get the plane on the ground to avoid or at least minimize the possibility of death or injury to the passengers and staff aboard.

Ditching is basically the same as crash landing. The only difference is that the plane lands on water. The pilot also tries to get the plane on the surface of the water in a way that the possibility of injury or death is minimized.