Definition
An air traffic control procedure in which a landing aircraft is cleared to land on a runway and instructed to stop short of an intersecting runway, intersecting taxiway, or other designated point on that runway. The pilot must accept or decline the clearance before crossing the runway threshold, and once accepted, is required to stop at or before the published hold-short point.
Plain English
A landing where the controller asks you to land and then stop before reaching a specific point on the runway, usually so another aircraft can safely use a crossing runway or taxiway.
Context Anchor
Seen in flight planning, airport information, and tower-controlled airport operations where two runways or traffic paths may be used at the same time.
Derivation
LAHSO is built from the phrase “land and hold short.” In aviation, “hold short” means stop before a specified line or point and do not go past it. That phrase is the key idea: land, slow down, and remain before the assigned point.
Why Pilots Care
Increases airport capacity and reduces delays while requiring specific pilot training, aircraft performance verification, and explicit ATC clearance to maintain safety.
Grounding Statement
Picture landing on a runway and treating a point ahead of you as a hard stop line that you must not cross.
Intuition Check
LAHSO does not mean the controller has decided your aircraft can stop in time. It means a landing-and-stop-before-this-point clearance is being offered, and the pilot must decide whether it is safe to accept.
Example Sentence 1
Tower issued a LAHSO clearance to land on Runway 27 and hold short of Runway 33.
Example Sentence 2
Before accepting the LAHSO instruction, the pilot confirmed the aircraft could stop within the published landing distance available.