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BeechPapa

How to handle windshear on final approach?

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I have ASN and have not experienced wind shear in the NGX until an approach into Anchorage tonight. I was at 1600ft inbound rwy 15, below and waiting to capture the ILS, when I heard "windshear windshear". I sort of freaked out, turned AT off, slammed the throttle all the way up, disabled AP, and pitched up for climb. Once the gear and flaps were up, I engaged TOGA, and put the plane back on AP for the missed approach procedure already in the FMC.

 

Looking down again, I realized the engine was in the red zone, so I eased the throttle back and reengaged AT. That's when I noticed I had also busted the 250kt limit, and was above the 2,000ft altitude for the missed approach hold point. 

 

Does the 250kt limit still stand under wind sheer conditions, and how about my altitude break? I was doing 275kts at 3,000 ft. From what I read TOGA and full throttle should be used when encountering wind shear on final, but I feel that given the circumstances - since I wasn't quite on short final - I might have overreacted and caused a worse situation.   

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If windshear is encountered then executing a missed approach was the right thing to do. You can do this two ways, one activating TOGA, or two (This is the more favorable version if you are lightly loaded) is to execute the same missed approach and throttle up to TO Thrust or CLB if you are that light and set it manually. Upon positive rate gear up, flaps 15, then 5, then 1 depending how high you go. You should not exceed 250kts, generally if I am getting radar vectors back to the initial approach fix, or for the visual I would keep the airspeed to 180-200kts, this makes maneuvering easier and more effective.  

 

To recap, TOGA using auto-thrust.

 

Or Set TO / CLB power manually, clean up the airplane on schedule.

 

This also applies to a microburst.

 

Angelo

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Good to know I had the right goal at least. Sounds like a was a bit too heavy handed with the throttle for being relatively light (I think landing weight was predicted to be 128,000 lbs). If I had more presence of mind, I'd have probably hit the TOGA button straight away since I was in AP when I encountered the windshear. When I scrambled to disengage AT and manually push the levers up, that was probably more of an emotional decision than a purely logical one. I do like the idea of having manual throttle control during sudden wind shifts, but will keep in mind what you said, and be more judicious with throttle application. Thanks, Angelo. 

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Windshear recovery is not the same as a go-around.

 

Typically, you don't change configuration during the recovery. Check out the "Maneuvers" section, I believe, to find the procedures.


Matt Cee

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