Link here to a good photo of an aeroplane performing an emergency landing on its belly in Blenheim in New Zealand this morning.
A friend of mine who is a GA pilot has told me it’s part of the Pilot Code: “Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing.”
In this case I think the passengers would disagree. Vehemently. And very loudly.
I’ve flown in those type of planes. Within the last month an’ all. Such was going through my mind as I watched the video on the news tonight.
Yes, but a great landing is when you can reuse the airplane.
From the pilot’s handbook:
If it requires full power to taxi to the terminal, you probably landed with the gear up.
If I was a passenger I would agree. Alive? Check. Good landing.
I would disagree. Merely being able to walk away alive doesn’t score above “poor, but better than the alternative, therefore acceptable” in my book. The pilot’s handling of a mechanical failure beyond his control may be ‘good’ or even ‘excellent’ in these sorts of cases, but in terms of my experience as a passenger, ‘good’ is reserved for use when I at least moderately enjoyed everything that happened.
What you wouldn’t enjoy being alive and walking away from such a landing? You must be really hard to please. 
If I was a passenger I’d be darn grateful that the pilot had the skill to land the plane under these conditions without any injuries.
Perhaps, but I prefer to reserve the word ‘good’ for experiences about which I might also say “let’s do that again sometime”.
I remember flying through a thunderstorm so bad that the entire plane burst into spontaneous applause when we landed. Would I want to do that again? Hell, no! Was it a good flight/landing? Damn right it was. We got down safely in spite of my vivid memories of seeing lightning hitting the wings while we were in the storm. I never did learn if it did any damage, but I’d rather not know, frankly!
Just looking at the picture, I’m having problems with my undercarriage. :eek:
No unusual skill is needed, and pilots are trained for this sort of thing. It’s also fair to add that once the plane is skidding on its belly the pilot has little to no control and luck is a factor.
The photo is impressive - catches bits of the propellors flying through the air.
This is why I’m glad I fly a fixed-gear plane. Of course, I’ll eat those words the next time I ask my right-seat passenger before landing: “do we still have a wheel on your side?” and the answer is no!