Know when traffic on approach requires a go-around, from an occupied runway and lost spacing to ATC instructions, wake turbulence and TCAS alerts.
Go around whenever traffic makes a safe landing uncertain: ATC orders it, the runway is occupied or likely to remain occupied at touchdown, another aircraft cuts into your flight path, required spacing is lost, or wake turbulence is unacceptable. Do not salvage the approach with abrupt slowing, S-turns or an unstable sidestep.
In real-world aviation, and when practising the same judgement in a flight simulator, the pilot in command remains responsible for avoiding traffic and deciding whether landing is safe. A landing clearance does not remove that responsibility.
When does traffic make a go-around necessary?
Traffic requires a go-around when continuing would create a collision risk, violate an ATC instruction or force the aircraft outside stabilised-approach criteria.
| Traffic situation | Correct response |
|---|---|
| ATC instructs you to go around or cancels the landing clearance | Execute the go-around immediately unless doing so would itself create an emergency. |
| An aircraft, vehicle or obstruction is likely to remain on the runway at touchdown | Go around; do not rely on it vacating at the last second. |
| Another aircraft turns inside you, crosses final or approaches in the opposite direction | Break off the approach early while keeping clear of its flight path. |
| Following traffic is too close for safe runway or wake-turbulence spacing | Request resequencing, extend before final if instructed, or go around. |
| Maintaining spacing requires excessive slowing, steep turns or large configuration changes | Go around once the approach becomes unstable. |
| Traffic remains contained on a separate parallel runway | Continue unless ATC, wake turbulence, runway deviation or a collision alert indicates otherwise. |
A traffic advisory alone does not automatically demand a go-around. If an aircraft equipped with TCAS or ACAS issues a resolution advisory, follow that command first, even if it conflicts with an ATC instruction; the resulting manoeuvre may not initially resemble a normal go-around.
Does an occupied runway always mean you must go around?
No—not while you are far enough away for preceding traffic to vacate normally—but the runway must be safely available when you land under the applicable local rules.
At some towered airports, ATC may issue a landing clearance while earlier traffic is still moving towards an exit because the controller expects the required separation to exist before your arrival. Standards differ by country, airport and type of operation. If you reach short final and cannot confirm that the runway will be available, go around rather than waiting for a late clearance change.
At a non-towered aerodrome there is no landing clearance to protect you. If someone enters the runway or cuts in ahead, announce the go-around, keep the traffic in sight where practical and follow the published circuit procedure. Our guide to spacing aircraft safely in the traffic pattern explains how to avoid creating the conflict in the first place.
Instrument approach minima do not change this rule. Decision altitude or minimum descent altitude governs the approach references and obstacle clearance; it does not authorise landing on an occupied runway.
What should you do if traffic appears late?
If traffic appears on short final, commit promptly to the go-around instead of trying to squeeze behind it.
- Establish the go-around flight path. Apply the prescribed power and attitude for the aircraft while controlling yaw and airspeed.
- Retract configuration in sequence. Follow the aircraft procedure for flaps and landing gear rather than cleaning up all at once.
- Avoid the traffic. Keep it in sight when possible, comply with any collision-avoidance resolution advisory and do not turn across its path.
- Tell ATC or other traffic. Report the go-around and the reason once the aircraft is under control.
- Fly the correct route. Follow ATC instructions or the applicable published missed-approach or circuit procedure; do not improvise a low-level turn.
For the aircraft-handling sequence and the distinction between a go-around and a published missed approach, use our detailed go-around procedure for flight simulators.
If the wheels touch while you make the decision, use the aircraft’s approved rejected-landing procedure. Many transport-aircraft procedures require the landing to be completed once reverse thrust has been selected, so a late decision cannot be treated like an ordinary airborne go-around.
Can you continue because ATC cleared you to land?
No. A landing clearance is permission to land, not an instruction to continue into an unsafe traffic situation.
Comply immediately if ATC says “go around”. If ATC expects traffic to vacate but it does not, initiate the go-around yourself and report it. Understanding how ATC sequences traffic and changes landing clearances helps explain why a clearance can be withdrawn with little warning.
A common mistake is accepting extreme slowing or S-turns on final to preserve the controller’s sequence. Unless specifically authorised and safe, these manoeuvres can destabilise the aircraft and surprise following traffic. Ask for resequencing before final, or go around.
How should traffic go-arounds be handled in a flight simulator?
In a flight simulator, apply the same decision rule even when built-in ATC or AI traffic behaves incorrectly.
- Go around if AI traffic remains on the runway, regardless of what the simulator’s controller says.
- In multiplayer, assume other pilots may not share your traffic picture or radio frequency.
- Do not force a landing merely to complete a scenario, preserve a score or avoid flying another circuit.
- Practise recognising the conflict early; an orderly go-around from 500 feet is safer and easier than one begun over the threshold.