Normal Approach and Landing

• Recommended approach and landing configuration and airspeed ±5 knots, adjusting pitch and power to maintain a stabilized approach (AA.III.B.S7)
• Touch down with the runway centerline between the main landing gear at the appropriate speed and pitch attitude, at the runway aiming point markings −250/+500 feet — or, where there are no runway markings, 750 to 1,500 feet from the approach threshold (AA.III.B.S10)
• Seaplanes: contact the water at the proper pitch attitude within 200 feet beyond a specified point; for AMES, touchdown must also be within the first one-third of the water landing area (AA.III.B.S11, ASES/AMES)
• Decelerate to taxi speed — 20 knots or less on dry pavement, 10 knots or less on contaminated pavement — within the calculated landing distance plus 25% for the actual conditions, centerline still between the main gear, on at least one landing (AA.III.B.S12)
• Use spoilers, prop reverse, thrust reverse, wheel brakes, and other drag/braking devices as appropriate; at least one landing to a full stop (AA.III.B.S13)
• Execute a timely go-around if the approach cannot be made within these tolerances or for any other unsafe condition (AA.III.B.S14)

From ACS Appendix 3: at least three actual landings, at least one to a full stop; the evaluator may combine landing Tasks with those in the Instrument Procedures and Emergency Operations Areas of Operation.

• Crosswind: the evaluator should test at least one required landing while you manually control the airplane in a crosswind — though in an airplane they may have no option but the crosswind that exists on the active runway. In a full flight simulator the crosswind component is set between 10 and 15 knots, with evaluator discretion to go higher — but never above the operator's aircraft operating manual limit or the AFM's maximum demonstrated value
• Briefing: precedes every takeoff and landing; after one satisfactory briefing, you may brief only the changes

From AFH ch. 16:

• Landing configuration by 1,000 feet AGL — gear down, landing flaps selected, trim set, fuel balanced
• On profile before descending below 1,000 feet — configuration, trim, speed, and glidepath at or near optimum, with an optimum glidepath angle of about 3°
• Indicated airspeed between zero and 10 knots above target by 500 feet AGL
• Descent rate matched to ground speed — rule of thumb: half the ground speed × 10 (130 knots GS → 650 fpm); typical rates fall between 500 and 700 fpm, and an excessive vertical speed flags a problem

Every approach is evaluated at 500 feet — about one minute from touchdown in a typical jet. Not stabilized there? Go around.

AFH ch. 16 lists the reasons jets are less forgiving than propeller airplanes:

• No propeller slipstream to produce instant extra lift or lower the power-on stall speed — you cannot salvage a misjudged glidepath with a burst of power, and there's virtually no difference between power-on and power-off stall speed
• Slow engine response at low rpm — the approach must be flown at a stable speed and power setting so thrust is available quickly
• Greater weight and momentum — speed and course corrections take more force and more time
• Little tendency to re-acquire the original speed after a deviation
• Drag increases faster than lift at low speed: a developing sink rate demands a pitch increase that rapidly deepens the sink unless significant power comes in promptly

The AFM performance data assumes an exact 50-foot threshold crossing at exactly 1.3 VSO and touchdown in a zone about 1,000 feet down the runway — the stabilized approach is what delivers the airplane to that window.

From AFH ch. 16:

• VSO — stall speed in the landing configuration
• VREF — 1.3 × VSO, the final approach reference (airplanes certified under the current part 25 standard schedule VREF at not less than 1.23 VSR, the reference stall speed — 25.125(b)(2) — which is what a modern AFM will show)
• Approach climb — the speed that guarantees adequate go-around performance with an inoperative engine
• Landing climb — the speed that guarantees the descent can be arrested and a go-around made from the final stages of landing, in full landing configuration, with maximum takeoff power on all engines

Speeds are calculated for every landing and posted where both pilots can see them. Never let airspeed decay below VREF — a high sink rate can develop. Type-specific values come from your AFM.

AFH ch. 16 gives the arithmetic:

• Excess approach speed carried through the threshold adds 20–30 feet per knot of minimum stopping distance on a dry runway, 40–50 feet per knot on a wet one
• Excess speed also invites an extended flare, adding roughly 250 feet per excess knot to the touchdown point
• An extra 50 feet of height over the threshold adds approximately 1,000 feet to landing distance
• A flat approach costs too: 2° instead of 3° adds about 500 feet

These numbers are why the ATP standard grades your touchdown against the aiming point at −250/+500 feet — drift outside it and the certified stopping numbers no longer describe your landing.

A jet should be flown onto the runway rather than held off — it is aerodynamically clean even in landing configuration and the engines produce residual thrust at idle, so holding off greatly increases landing distance. A firm landing is normal and desirable (deliberate and positive, not hard).

Typical geometry (AFH ch. 16):

1. Gear crosses the threshold 30–45 feet up
2. 5–7 seconds from threshold to touchdown
3. Flare initiated at roughly 15 feet, with a pitch increase of only 1° to 3°, reducing sink to 100–200 fpm
4. Thrust smoothly to idle as the flare progresses

Fly it to the target touchdown point even if speed is excessive — the extended flare is the classic overrun setup and can end in a tail strike.

Wheel brakes, reverse thrust, and aerodynamic drag (AFH ch. 16). Sequencing:

1. Lower the nose-wheel immediately — landing distance charts assume it is down within 4 seconds of touchdown; it reduces AOA and lift, loads the tires, and aids directional control
2. Spoilers immediately — most effective at high speed; they dump lift, load the wheels, and make maximum tire braking force available
3. Brakes — the most effective and most important stopping force for most landings; begin as soon after touchdown and wheel spin-up as possible
4. Reversers quickly, but no significant reverse until the nose-wheel is on the ground — asymmetric deployment demands nose-wheel steering authority; reverse and aerodynamic drag dominate only at high speed and on very slippery runways

Remember directional control and braking share the same tire-ground friction — increasing either subtracts from the other.

No regulation requires it, but the FAA encourages all operators (parts 121, 125, 135, 91) to assess landing distance at time of arrival — around top of descent, when current weather and field conditions are in hand, and no later than commencing the approach. It was born of the TALPA Aviation Rulemaking Committee after the December 2005 737 overrun at Chicago Midway, implemented October 1, 2016. Key pieces:

• Airports report conditions via the Runway Condition Assessment Matrix (RCAM) and Runway Condition Codes; friction measuring values are no longer used because they don't correlate reliably with airplane braking performance
• Pilot braking action reports run Good, Good to Medium, Medium, Medium to Poor, Poor, Nil — and their reliability depends on aircraft similarity and time since the report
• Time-of-arrival data (or the SAFO's Landing Distance Factors applied to unfactored AFM distance) includes a 15 percent safety margin
• Preflight wet/slippery dispatch data (121.195, 135.385, 91.1037) may not provide adequate runway for actual wet or contaminated conditions at arrival

Land and hold short operations support simultaneous operations on intersecting runways. From PHAK ch. 14:

• Know the landing distance available to the hold-short point and the signs/markings there
• Advise ATC if you cannot comply — accepting means you either exit before the intersecting runway or stop at the holding position
• LAHSO is generally not authorized at night, and not authorized on wet runways
• At many airports, air carrier aircraft are not authorized to participate when the other aircraft is general aviation

The ATP-specific trap is the go-around after acceptance — that scenario belongs to Task III.J.

SAFO 17010 asks two things of you on every visual approach:

• Fly a stabilized approach — an unstable approach consumes both pilots' attention and starves situational awareness
• Back up visual approaches with technology: tune a published approach (ILS, LOC, VOR, RNAV) to the assigned runway to verify alignment

It followed the July 2017 San Francisco incident: an airliner cleared for Runway 28R at night lined up on Taxiway C — with four airliners holding on it — and began a go-around while directly over them. This is the modern content of AA.III.B.S4 (ensure alignment with the correct/assigned runway) and the "incorrect airport surface approach" risk element.

14 CFR 25.125 defines it: the horizontal distance to land and come to a complete stop from a point 50 feet above the landing surface. Manufacturers determine it on a dry, level runway at standard temperatures, with speed brakes deployed and maximum wheel braking — and without thrust reversers, autobrakes, or auto-land (AFH ch. 16; SAFO 19001 adds that the unfactored AFM distance may reflect aggressive flight-test air distances). So the book number assumes a stop you will rarely fly on the line — which is exactly why arrival-time assessments and safety margins exist. Reversers should absolutely still be used when available; they are margin, not credit.

As an accepted safety practice from AFH ch. 16: divide the usable runway length by 1.67 — the result should equal or exceed the AFM-calculated landing distance for a dry runway. For a wet runway, increase the required distance by an additional 15% (equivalently, divide the runway by 1.92). Put the other way around: minimum dry field length is at least 1.4 times the calculated air-and-ground distance, and wet field length at least 1.61 times. Careful planning may mean limiting payload or fuel to protect the margin at the destination.

• Crab — a coordinated heading change into the wind that keeps the wings-level ground track on the extended centerline; the crab must be removed just prior to touchdown with rudder to align the longitudinal axis, or the gear takes side loads (AFH ch. 9)
• Wing-low (sideslip) — upwind wing lowered, opposite rudder holding the axis on centerline; touchdown occurs on the upwind main gear first, then the downwind main, then the nose, with aileron into the wind increasing toward full deflection in the rollout
• In multiengine airplanes the two are typically used in conjunction — crab down final, transition to the sideslip prior to touchdown (AFH ch. 13)
• Speed: adjust the approach for wind and gusts with VREF plus an additive (e.g., VREF+5) per your operator or AFM (AFH ch. 13) — and never below VREF

From PHAK ch. 5: when landing behind another aircraft, approach above the preceding aircraft's path and touch down beyond the point where its wheels contacted the runway. Vortices are strongest when the generator is heavy, clean, and slow, sink below the flight path, and drift with the wind — about 1,000 feet per minute in a 10-knot wind, which can push a departed aircraft's vortices onto a parallel runway or hold them over your touchdown zone. If the other aircraft's touchdown point is uncertain, roughly 3 minutes of spacing provides a margin. Fold the geometry into the approach briefing, not the flare.

When the approach cannot be completed within the tolerances of this Task — configuration and speed ±5 knots on a stabilized path to a touchdown inside −250/+500 feet of the aiming point — or when any other condition would make the approach or landing unsafe. The evaluation gate is the AFH's 500-foot check: stabilized there or go around. The maneuver itself, its callouts, and the LAHSO complication are Task III.J; what this Task grades is that the decision is timely — made at the trigger, not after the float has eaten your touchdown zone.

Three markings/lighting items your standards are literally written against:

• Runway aiming point markings — anchor the −250/+500-foot touchdown window; where markings are absent, the 750-to-1,500-foot band from the threshold applies instead (AA.III.B.S10)
• Displaced threshold — the portion of runway behind it is available for takeoffs in either direction, or landings from the opposite direction; displacement reduces the length available for your landing (PHAK ch. 14)
• Touchdown zone lights — two rows of transverse light bars disposed symmetrically about the centerline in the touchdown zone, giving you the same aiming reference at night that the painted markings give you by day (AFH glossary)

Tie each one back to the standard: they exist so the crew can put the mains down where the performance data assumes.