Floating in ground effect during landing can cause:

Floating in ground effect during landing can cause:

• A. Reduced lift
• B. Increased landing distance and tail strike risk
• C. Reduced drag
• D. Improved braking distance

Answer: (B)

Floating in ground effect during landing is about how the wing behaves when very close to the runway. As you approach the ground, the interaction between the wing and the surface increases lift and reduces induced drag. That extra lift makes the aircraft descend more slowly and can keep the airplane airborne longer than intended, so you touch down later than planned. That delay translates into a longer landing distance. At the same time, holding a nose-up attitude to stay in that lift regime can bring the tail closer to the runway, increasing the risk of tail strike if touchdown is delayed or the flare is too aggressive. So the main consequence of floating in ground effect during landing is more runway distance to touchdown and a higher tail strike risk. The other options aren’t the primary effects: lift isn’t reduced (it’s increased near the ground), while drag is partially reduced (especially induced drag) but that isn’t the issue described by floating, and braking distance isn’t improved during the float before touchdown.

Floating in ground effect during landing is about how the wing behaves when very close to the runway. As you approach the ground, the interaction between the wing and the surface increases lift and reduces induced drag. That extra lift makes the aircraft descend more slowly and can keep the airplane airborne longer than intended, so you touch down later than planned. That delay translates into a longer landing distance.

At the same time, holding a nose-up attitude to stay in that lift regime can bring the tail closer to the runway, increasing the risk of tail strike if touchdown is delayed or the flare is too aggressive.

So the main consequence of floating in ground effect during landing is more runway distance to touchdown and a higher tail strike risk. The other options aren’t the primary effects: lift isn’t reduced (it’s increased near the ground), while drag is partially reduced (especially induced drag) but that isn’t the issue described by floating, and braking distance isn’t improved during the float before touchdown.