Definition
Landings made with reduced airspeed, low engine power, and a high pitch attitude, leaving the aircraft with little reserve energy to correct for sink rate, gusts, or misjudged flare height. In this state the aircraft is close to a stall and recovery options are limited, so a small error can result in a hard touchdown or loss of control.
Plain English
Landings flown so slowly and with so little power that the aircraft has almost nothing left in reserve. If anything goes wrong in the last few feet, there isn't enough speed or thrust available to fix it.
Context Anchor
Used during landing instruction, especially when discussing approaches, practice landings, and how much margin a student has near the runway.
Derivation
"Energy" here refers to the aircraft's combined kinetic energy (from speed) and potential energy (from height), plus the power available from the engine. "Low energy" means all three are running thin at once.
Why Pilots Care
Low energy landings raise the risk of hard landings, bounces, stalls, or loss of directional control near the ground.
Grounding Statement
Picture an airplane close to the runway, slow, and descending with little power added; it has very little left to spend if the landing starts to go wrong.
Intuition Check
Energy does not mean how active or alert the pilot feels here. It means the airplane’s usable combination of speed, height, and power during the landing.
Example Sentence 1
The instructor demonstrated how a low energy landing develops when a pilot drags the approach in with too little power and too high a pitch attitude.
Example Sentence 2
Instructors teach recovery from low energy landings by emphasizing prompt power application before the aircraft settles onto the runway.