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Aviation glossary

Landing

Also: touchdown, landing roll, flare

Operations and flight

The final phase of flight in which the aircraft crosses the runway threshold, touches down on its main gear and slows to taxi speed.

What it is

Landing begins as the aircraft crosses the runway threshold at about 50 feet. Shortly before touchdown the pilot flares, raising the nose slightly to reduce the rate of descent so that the main wheels touch first and the nose wheel follows.

Three things slow the aircraft down: the spoilers, which deploy on touchdown, dump lift and put the weight on the wheels; the thrust reversers; and the wheel brakes, often with a preselected autobrake setting. On a wet or contaminated runway the distance needed grows, and it is recalculated before the descent begins.

Airliners aim for a firm touchdown in the touchdown zone rather than a feather-light one: on a wet runway a positive contact helps the tyres grip. In thick fog, autoland systems allow aircraft to land in very low visibility on runways and aircraft certified for Category III ILS operations.

On Vuelopedia

Vuelopedia airport pages list their runways with designation, length and surface.

Related terms

ApproachThe phase of flight in which the aircraft lines up with the runway and descends along a defined path to the point where the crew decides to land or go around. Runway thresholdBeginning of the part of a runway usable for landing, marked with white longitudinal stripes and green lights visible to aircraft on approach. Thrust reverserEngine mechanism that, after touchdown, redirects part of the airflow forwards to help slow the aircraft on the runway. SpoilerHinged panel on the upper wing surface that rises to spoil lift and add drag, helping the aircraft descend, slow down or roll. MLWMaximum weight at which an aircraft is certified to land, determined mainly by the strength of the landing gear and the airframe.
Whole glossary

Cite

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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Landing. Retrieved October 19, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/landing

MLA

“Landing.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/landing. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “Landing.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/landing.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) Landing. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/landing (Accessed: 19 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_landing,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{Landing}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-09},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/landing},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/landing}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-19},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-19}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/landing |title=Landing |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-19 |language=en}}

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