A tower-induced go-round

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote:

A competent tower controller that just stuck a slower and higher
landing trafffic in front of another aircraft that he/she ALREADY
cleared to land should have stated to the preceding plane " exit the
runway without delay, landing traffic on a 1/2 mile final" while the
preceding plane was still on the rollout.

There was no need for that.

Most people know that the first order of business when you've landed is
to get OFF the runway as soon as able. If this was a student with an
instructor, the instructor KNOWS that, and should have also been aware
that someone was on final behind them. Perhaps there was a valid reason
for stopping that they just did not announce on the radio?

The pilot should not have made a complete stop on
the runway regardless.

Unless there was some emergency/safety factor that prompted them to stop
on the runway.

If you just go back and reread this whole thread it
should become crystal clear to a sane and competent
controller that Jay was given a go around because of
the tower controller was asleep at the switch.

Maybe so, but if you're only 1/2 mile behind the guy who just landed,
you should be *ready* to do a go-round if they don't exit the runway
promptly REGARDLESS of whether or not the controller tells you to do so.
At least, that's what I was taught.

To those of us that have read this whole thread and also have
some knowledge of ATC procedures it is crystal clear that
Jay had plenty of room behind the preceding 172, and that
an alert controller issued a go around to Jay when he observed
the 172 had stopped on the runway. Good for him.

Yeah...so what's the problem? No offense, Jay, but IMO you should have
been prepared for the go-around.

Those with common sense don't hold controllers
responsible for a pilot's mistake.

To which pilot are you referring? the one who stopped on the runway?
Unless you talked with him/her, hard to know if that was a "mistake" or
if he/she had a valid reason for stopping there. I wouldn't assume they
didn't just because they didn't announce it on frequency.