Definition
A landing attempt that is discontinued by the pilot, who applies power and transitions the airplane back to a climb instead of completing the touchdown. It is another term for a go-around initiated late in the approach or after the airplane has begun its landing flare.
Plain English
The pilot decides not to land after all, adds power, and climbs away to try again or divert.
Context Anchor
Pilots encounter this during landing practice, go-around training, and real approaches when the airplane is not lined up well, is too high or too fast, the wind changes, or the runway is not safe to use.
Derivation
‘Reject’ comes from the Latin reicere, meaning ‘to throw back.’ A rejected landing is a landing the pilot ‘throws back’ — chooses not to accept — and instead climbs away.
Why Pilots Care
Executing a rejected landing prevents runway incursions, collisions, or loss of control that could occur if an unsafe landing is forced.
Grounding Statement
A rejected landing is the safe choice to stop a bad landing attempt while the airplane can still fly away.
Intuition Check
Rejected does not mean the pilot failed or crashed the landing. It means the pilot deliberately chose not to continue that landing and climbed away safely.
Example Sentence 1
When a vehicle pulled onto the runway during short final, the pilot executed a rejected landing and climbed back to pattern altitude.
Example Sentence 2
The instructor had the student practice a rejected landing from fifty feet to build the habit of going around when conditions change suddenly.