American Airlines landing at St. Maarten / strange 360° loop on approach

[XxMeLoNzZxX]

no the 360 is to decend easier and its one way to line up with the runway :)

[luilory]

Where was the flight from?

[wero8a1]

I think that the pilot went to fast on the aproach so( as I said I think) thats the reason why he decided to make a 360° turn

[654321825]

the 360 was a hold

[travelplus1]

Is St. Maarten part of the EU? Can I pay in Euro's and use my Multi Entry EU Visa/Passport to enter? If I come from Paris I do not need to clear customs is that correct?

[chrislovesplanes14]

Is this fsx

[rwny62882]

all american airline planes are dirty and old

[Corvette35000]

@rwny62882 dirty? dude, that happens to every plane unless you want to take a giant rag and wipe it on the flaps every single flight. sound fun?

[rwny62882]

@Corvette35000 i guess every plane has duct tape on there 757's like AA does too

[CphSpotting]

They were too high and too fast, since they used speedbrakes and did the loop :)

[pianomanmaestro]

I'm guessing he was an Airforce Pilot..

[turbonetic777]

Amazing video......He was too high, you can tell because the pilot was using the airbrakes during the final approach, so by turning he can get low rather than performing a full go around...this is the first time I've seen this menuver recorded by a passenger...awesome vid. thnx for posting!

[MaroonCamaro]

Looks like he was coming in too fast and circled to bleed off some speed.

[kristenrosen]

thumbs up if you thought this video is fsx

[rockymountainrandom]

@kristenrosen Haha, at first, yes... :)

[rhettski999]

The 360 loop is to allow the aircraft to loose altitude and establish its correct landing speed for the final, it's common.

[alexg737]

Looks like an orbit rather than an IFR hold because there is no inbound/outbound leg just rotating around a point. Not sure if there are actually any navaids around SXM to actually hold around come to think of it.

[raffialexanian]

I am guessing someone was back taxiing for the pilot to make this double u turn. Nice Vid.

[TwoGuZZup144]

lol watch if he thought the tower literally meant "go around" lol

[aserna32]

@TwoGuZZup144 Ahhh ATC humor. :)

[KCBOYZ1307]

It's part of the approach procedure. I've seen STAR's for SXM alot.

[Supershanker123]

Thats called a holding pattern, they use it when there are aircraft supposed to arrive before you in the pattern, or when there is no space at the tutorial

[mickithebush]

they often do that 360 loop when they arrive too early and there is no space at the terminal.

[CaptainAndreas45]

@mickithebush

Yes, when I flew to Zurich with SWISS, the pilot came onto to the P/A and told us why we were on a "roller-coaster" as he described it.

[florentlondon]

i think it did a 360 bcs it had to decend more . that what happened to me when landing to lhr with sas

[625spence]

love the videos my suggestions on the pilot making the 360 was because he was probably to high and going to fast reasons for my suggestion is because he extended the flaps immediately to full meaning he was going to fast and he also armed the spoilers showing he was definitely going too fast and also showing he was too high because the spoilers help to increase the rate of descend i was not the pilot so its just my opinion and cool camera the video was great

[awesomeskierboy]

ST MARTEN IS FRENCH STOP ASKING WHY THERE ARE FRENCH ANNOUNCEMENTS!

[babytweeze85]

@awesomeskierboy close...half of the island is french the other half..the side with the airport on it, is Dutch

[awesomeskierboy]

@babytweeze85 the french half of the island is called st. MARTEN the dutch side is called ST. MAARTEN. i beleive that when i said "st. marten, with ONE "A" i was talking solely about the side of the island that is french.

and considering the fact that the only corelatation between the two, is that they happen to be on the same mass of land, i assumed it would be evident to other people that i was refering to the french side. the side featured in the video.

[Duen969]

Infront rwy is circle for get slower and les high next way for approach .it's safe process if pilot isn't sure bcos Maarten have short rwy.

[murkins001]

hard landing... too high....

[odlombana71]

Probably came to high. According to the approach chart rnav (gnss) for runway 10, in this case the pilot should begin a right holding pattern. When an airliner come from the US, the approach starts at SLUGO intercection, the pilot must be at this point at or above 2600ft. Later the pilot have to intercept AVAKI at 2600ft, if is to high, the pilot start a right holding pattern over AVAKI until he/she reach 2600ft in order to continue with the approach if the ATC allows it. This is a hypothesis.

[aul220]

I love it !!! I'm actually looking for a flight attendant job.

[YouReadMyMind]

the 360 turn might have also been because of a blocked runway, ive had to do this in a C152 during my flight trainning, a piper cherokee wouldnt clear the runway on our aproach so we did a tight circle so it would clear the runway, instead of going around for another aproach

[matims04]

@YouReadMyMind same here . only difference . had to make a 360 holding pattern off the runway for 777 on approach . piarco

[elgatito2000]

what seat number you were seating?

[yekane1]

probs was in either holding pattern or was to high and went around, he puts the spoilers up do im gussing he was to high

[yekane1]

probs was in either holding pattern or was to high and went around

[AARedSox327]

I guess we will never know the true reason for this turn unless somebody can track down the pilots and ask them ;) . But to me it looked as of he was a little too high

[boeing757200american]

im no expert but i think that 360 was because he was to high and needs to get lower or it was a holding pattern

[MyPilot747]

wheres the loop?

[VivaLaEmil1]

@MyPilot747 in your ass

[MyPilot747]

shutup bitch

[VivaLaEmil1]

@MyPilot747 haha

[MyPilot747]

your face

[VivaLaEmil1]

@MyPilot747 your bellybuttom

[OmsoiTekken]

Lol, why are some of you saying he was too high. Like he had a fucking choice of how high. And you can't exactly tell the pilot he was too high because its not like he's going to even listen to you.

[DeadlyInertia]

@OmsoiTekken No, we are saying that he was high so he did the loop, why in the world would you do a loop on a normal approach?

[OmsoiTekken]

@DeadlyInertia I didn't say anything about him doing a loop.

[Deltapilot96]

@OmsoiTekken And the pilot made a good and safe landing, the result of a professional pilot :)

[OmsoiTekken]

@Deltapilot96 Yeah I know, that's what I was trying to say... -.-

[Deltapilot96]

@OmsoiTekken but you didn't... -.-

[OmsoiTekken]

@Deltapilot96 I know I didn't, that's why I said I TRIED TO...

-.-

[Deltapilot96]

@OmsoiTekken yeah and i said "you didn't" -.-

[OmsoiTekken]

@Deltapilot96 Lol, lets just both stop arguing over the internet like nerds. good day 

[rhettski999]

A 360 Degree turn on final indicates that the aircraft was too high and by making a circle turn that when back on path puts the aircraft in exactly the same place but the altitude significantly lower and therefore at the right altitude for that particular point in the approach.

[timelordteamspoofers]

you were to high reason being if you look at 1:52 the island outside the window looks further away then when your on final approach. And on 1:23 the flaps go down like mad and the spoilers go up too which means you were going to fast aswell since they are designed to reduce speed and create drag which results in popping ears :)

[TheChefKev]

757 Forever !

[787baudrik]

thank you for the video you. have a wonderfull camera, and the ocean looked beautifull.

[HamburgAirport]

This is a interect go around

[NJAceSgt]

Strange. Maybe he was coming in too high and had to do a 360 to get low enough. Nice vid!

[garlex134]

If they do French, shouldn't they also do Dutch as I think they are landing on the Dutch side of the island... nice video anyways!

[seno862]

nice!!

i like the older 757 flap sounds better though:P

[techguy3000]

Nice!

[jaimelyn21]

French, because, as most of you should know, half of Saint Maarten speaks FRENCH!!!!! And they did a loop most likely because another airplane was still on the runway or for more spacing between this AA plane and another plane that may have JUST taken off. Happens a lot. I work for AA.

[FlyingFilipe]

FRENCH ANNOUNCEMENT! :O WTF?

[eispinguin]

@FlyingFilipe

(wiki:) The northern French half of the island comprises the Collectivité de Saint-Martin (Collectivity of St. Martin) and is an overseas collectivity of France

[FlyingFilipe]

@eispinguin Yes, but why is Amercian doing the announcement in french, when i fly to germany we dont get a german announcement lol :P

[eispinguin]

@FlyingFilipe

normally there is a also german speaking flight attendant on flights to frankfurt repeating the announcements in german...

[FlyingFilipe]

@eispinguin Ok, intresting, thx.

[FlightAttendant08876]

@FlyingFilipe you need to call American Airlines and file a claim of discrimination lol

[VIPBaller]

@eispinguin The "strange loop" was because the nearest taxiway was behind him, So he made a 360 loop to exit the runway as fast as possible. You dont see this on most airports is because St.Maarten has a short runway and not alot of taxiways are connected to the runway.

[amillionztarz]

@VIPBaller he said on approach not on the runway.... if u didn't realize the plane circles around just as its about to land and you can see the airport

[qwertyguy76]

@eispinguin

yes and there is always most importantly the dutch side

[tonystarification]

@FlyingFilipe cause it is in st.martin it is a part of the french colony

[Jimmyjames376]

@FlyingFilipe maybe the idiot filming it stuffing up on board telemetrys

[natofsx8]

wow,that was what a call a '' circle to land'',

[FS2004AviationPro]

Why French?

[eispinguin]

@FS2004AviationPro

The northern French half of the island comprises the Collectivité de Saint-Martin (Collectivity of St. Martin) and is an overseas collectivity of France

[guidodeukuzeta1234]

perhaps it was going to fast or too high

[PilotUTA]

where did you depart from?

[EACK82]

The aircraft had to go around!

[Deltapilot96]

gr8 videos!

[CathayGuy]

I have an explanation for this weird 360 Degree loop. I'm not sure but, there could have been a larger aircraft behind your flight. Like a 747. In this case the pilot was told by ATC to do the loop. This happened to me once when I was flying there was a regional jet behind me going of course a lot faster then me. In this case I was asked by the tower to do a slow 360 degree turn. However, after this long 360 degree I was blessed with some lovely wake turbulence...

[Ilovegogosable]

Hey I was on this flight i was on sedat 25A

[20010020001000]

he was to high, that's why he took the 360

[ThatVoiceAgain]

I loved this clip. Thanks for sharing this.

Cheers

[eispinguin]

well, the 360° loop is for sure not the standard approach to St Maarten, guys :-)

as the runway doesn't have taxiways on one side of the airport and the aircrafts have to turn on it and roll back to the terminal, I assume the aircraft landing before us was still blocking the runway so we had to make to loop to give them some more time.

[guidodeukuzeta1234]

@eispinguin

all international aircrafts hsve to do that approach

[MrPedoShine]

@eispinguin im pretty sure the 360 loop was because the 757 was way too high on approach. The planes usually fly much lower and slower on final approach into st marteen

[dva511]

About the 360 Degree loop depends where your coming from could be Approach procedure like TunikaJonas said. Great video i enjoyed watching it, keep them coming.

[TunikaJonas]

360 degree loop is part of the approach procedure, so it's nothing special! really nice vid and great quality:)

[hlfLordTesco]

the quality of the vid is fantastic

[fsx767]

what camera???

[camcam196]

great camera clear video...like were actually ther

[bagagerat]

It seems like you were a bit high; It does make for a nice movie; thanks for sharing :)