| Annotation or Definition |
| Emergency landing |
| Forced landing |
| Landing gear |
| Water landing |
Annotation or Definition
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Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing," "touchdown" or "splashdown" as well. A normal aircraft flight would include several parts of flight including taxi, takeoff, climb, cruise, descent and landing.
Figure 1: Aircraft landing sequence.  Approach and Landing procedures  |
Emergency landing
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An emergency landing is a landing made by an aircraft in response to a crisis which either interferes with the operation of the aircraft or involves sudden medical emergencies necessitating diversion to the nearest airport.
Types of emergency landings Forced landing Precautionary Ditching 
Procedures If there is no engine power available during a forced landing, a fixed-wing aircraft glides, while a rotary winged aircraft (helicopter) autorotates to the ground by trading altitude for airspeed to maintain control. Pilots often practice "simulated forced landings", in which an engine failure is simulated and the pilot has to get the aircraft on the ground safely, by selecting a landing area and then gliding the aircraft at its best gliding speed. If there is a suitable landing spot within the aircraft's gliding or autorotation distance, an unplanned landing will often result in no injuries or significant damage to the aircraft, since powered aircraft generally use little or no power when they are landing. Light aircraft can often land safely on fields, roads, or gravel river banks (or on the water, if they are float-equipped); but medium and heavy aircraft generally require long, prepared runway surfaces because of their heavier weight and higher landing speeds Forced landing A forced landing is a landing by an aircraft made under factors outside the pilot's control, such as the failure of engines, systems, components or weather which makes continued flight impossible. However the term also means a landing that has been forced by interception. Aircraft water landings Seaplanes, flying boats, and amphibious aircraft are designed to take off and alight on water. 
Flight 1549, ditched in the Hudson River in 2009 with all passengers surviving Pan Am Flight 6 (a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser) ditches in the Pacific after failure of 2 engines (1956).  Ditching button on the overhead panel of an Airbus A330 Here are further guidelines. |