Two reasons: To reduce the weight of the airplane for landing for legal/structural reasons. There is a maximum landing weight that should be observed. The landing distance and the stress on the airplane is predicated on being at max landing weight or below.
This is because landing can place additional strain on a jet. When a plane lands heavily, it can hit the ground too hard and damage itself. During an emergency, a jet may be forced to land earlier than anticipated. This is where fuel dumping comes into play.
A captain has three choices when having to land quickly and overweight: Fly around long enough to burn the fuel down to the maximum landing weight, land with the plane still overweight or dump fuel. Depending on the situation, each option may be appropriate.
Preventing overweight landings
The most common reason for aircraft to dump fuel is to keep them from landing above their maximum permitted weight. This will generally occur in instances when a flight needs to return to the airport shortly after departure.
The fuel disperses over a wide enough area that the particles evaporate into a fine mist. Essentially evaporating into a gaseous form and then fading into the background gases of the atmosphere.
Air Canada Flight 143, commonly known as the Gimli Glider, was a Canadian scheduled domestic passenger flight between Montreal and Edmonton that ran out of fuel on Saturday, July 23, 1983, at an altitude of 41,000 feet (12,500 m), midway through the flight.
Fuel jettisoning systems can dump thousands of pounds a second. Most can get a plane back down to its max landing weight in 15 minutes or less, and it's usually as easy as flipping a switch in the cockpit.
If the aircraft does not meet the regulatory engine out climb requirements at maximum takeoff weight or if the manufacturer has not made provisions to structurally allow for an "over-weight" landing capability , the aircraft will normally be equipped with a Fuel Dumping system.
An aborted landing (which is known as a 'go-around' by pilots), can happen for a number of reasons such as bad weather, a blocked runway or an unstabilised approach. Go-arounds are very safe manoeuvres which are regularly practiced by pilots in the simulator.
Area and flight level
Fuel dumping is usually accomplished at a high enough altitude (minimum 6,000 feet, AGL), where the fuel will dissipate before reaching the ground.
You could be taking off with a full load of fuel but no cargo/passengers, in which case it is entirely possible that you may be below MLW. And in which case the answer would be yes, it's entirely possible to land with full fuel tanks.
The maximum landing weight (MLW) is the maximum aircraft gross weight due to design or operational limitations at which an aircraft is permitted to land. The MLW is set in order to ensure safe landings; if an aircraft weighs too heavy during touchdown, it may suffer structural damage or even break apart upon landing.
They are Highly Experienced
Well, first of all, they are highly trained professionals. They have years of experience and know exactly what to do in any given situation. This experience helps them to remain calm under pressure.
It's strictly done to stop the wheels from vibrating as they wind down, which can scare the pax and sometimes the pilot at first.
If distress, MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAY-DAY; if urgency, PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN.
When the plane overflew the runway where it was supposed to land, the autopilot disconnected. That triggered an alarm, which woke up the pilots, according to Aviation Herald. They then maneuvered the aircraft around for landing on the runway 25 minutes later, the outlet further said.
When clouds surround an airport, pilots have been able to find the path to the runway for decades by using an Instrument Landing System, or ILS. Ground-based transmitters project one radio beam straight down the middle of the runway, and another angled up from the runway threshold at a gentle three degrees.
If you have ever pondered that, the simple answer to your question is yes. There have been a few occasions when pilots accidentally landed in a different airport from the one they had in mind.
Most circling is to provide separation between airplanes, to hold planes when runways are temporarily obstructed, or to ensure airplanes arrive at their planned arrival times for the destination airport.
Most of the fuel that is dumped turns into vapor within a few minutes. If jettisoned above 5000 feet in above freezing temperature calculations show that 98% will evaporate before reaching the ground. The fuel vapors rapidly dissipate and diffuse. This could contribute to photochemical oxidant pollution, smog.
Theoretically, it could fly longer because all commercial planes land with a regulated diversion and reserve fuel and never with zero fuel. As such, the answer is that it could stay more than 20 hours in the air before running out of fuel.
Flying boom – This system uses a rigid tube, named the boom, to connect the two aircraft. A dedicated operator directs the boom into a small opening on the recipient aircraft. The Air Force favors this system as the flying boom transfers fuel faster than the probe-and-drogue (6,000 lbs/min vs. 2,000 lbs/min).
The multi-story jumbo jet burns an average of 4,600 gallons (11,400 liters) of fuel per hour.
The window is replaced. Then the plane returns to service. It's not very exciting. A broken window is not usually "removed" because the window has multiple layers.
However, as long as sea conditions are smooth and the ditching is performed in a proper way, an aircraft can land on the sea and remain afloat.