Are you sure that when you announced your position and your final, that it was for rw26, or was that maybe for rw08? I had this problem a long time ago (since then I only manually communicate with the ATC dialog and don’t ever use the automatic anymore, except for passenger announcements) where I know that my pilot said another runway over the radio than what was set in the EFB and where the blue boxes (which I also now have switched off) led me, so I too got a penalty for landing on the wrong runway.
Yeah this has happened several times to me too. Makes zero sense. There is no apparent reason for the runway to change and certainly not when you’re on final when all the decisions have been made. Sometimes you don’t get the final ATC interaction to say you’re on final until you’re about to touch down when you, the pilot, suddenly announce that you’re landing on a different runway - like it’s your decision. Then you get penalised for ‘undesignated landing area’.
same, i always do everything with atc, and announce landing runway. Then, right before landing, I hear myself saying “on final runay (opposite one) to land”, then land on the one i was already on approach for and called out manually in the atc menu (not pressing enter), and get undesignated landing area
Threads TL:DR
This works for me after the issue occurred and even resulted in a crash of aircraft when I ran off the end of the runway. This works and I am back to getting mid 90% scores again.
I am flying cargo in the C172 as I am still building up my career. I choose the mission and set myself up as per normal. When I am about 10 miles from the destination I will have an idea of wind direction - Normally opposite to what I want. Follow all the normal actions and enter the pattern and fly to final. Set yourself up with airspeed about 65 knots with one unit of flaps.
Here’s the kicker…
Do a touch and go. Touch down on the runway then apply full power and take off again. Fly runway heading for a couple of minutes. Then do a 180 degree turn and land on the runway (if that that is best for landing in to wind - Adjust your approach as required).
Land as per normal - you don’t get penalised and you get to advance your career.
I hope this is of assistance. My apologies if someone has already advised off this.
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I get these "undesignated Runway calls all the time whether using ATC to change or EFB chosen R’way. I am wondering whether it is also about specifically where you land on a runway - i.e. what distance from the start of a runway. Even in large airports if you miss the point where all the tire skid marks are visible, I get an undesignated ding again.
I think this sim specifically tries to find a reason to ding you - it either moves the Hold Short, tells you to taxi down a runway but doesn’t give you a hold short and then dings you for entering illegally, after landing says you did not answer ATC when you do not hear (or see in the Coms box) any message from them on Final, build a row of houses across the taxiway so you can’t taxi to parking - you then have to skip and get dinged for that GRRRRRR.
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@Pilotfirst9999
I think your comment is right on the money.
I’ve had this happen a few times… it seems like it was when I floated in ground effect and landed “a bit” too long. I definitely landed on the correct runway according to the mission briefing, ATC and flight plan (in both the FMS and EFB). Had no idea why it threw an “undesignated landing area” at me.
But this makes perfect sense. Strange because I don’t know where the cutoff distance is. Could have touched down a just a tiny bit too long so I’ve been stunned every time it’s happened.
Yes thanks, where there are clear touchdown zones and markings it does explain it but where there are just little airstrips with none and perilously short lengths where you are lucky to land at all it does not and is unfair to give penalties. I have copied this for everyones use as follows
The TDZ is placed after the runway threshold and runway designation markings. This is done to ensure that the aircraft lands on the runway and provide a safety margin in case of e.g. pilot error or sudden loss of height due to windshear or turbulence.
The TDZ is marked by pairs of stripes symmetrically placed on the two sides of the runway centreline. The number of pairs depends on the runway length (e.g. one pair for runways that are shorter than 900 m, 6 if the length is 2 400 m or more, etc.). The aiming point marking coincides with one of these pairs and is noticeably wider (see picture below).
Specific provisions about TDZ marking and aiming point marking, including requirements when to implement these, dimensions, distances, and spacing, are described in ICAO Annex 14, Chapter 5.
Aiming point and touchdown zone markings (illustrated for a runway with a length of 2 400 m or more)
I always update ATC and Avionics and I validate the runway. I had undesignated landing area many times, including today on February 26th, 2025. It is still a bug.
On those medium cargo missions, you are usually landing on a single airport runway in the middle of nowhere, so there is no ability for an alternate runway to be suggested. Perhaps it is sending me in the wrong direction to land on it, but I cannot see that I am getting a direction contrary to either the ATC or avionics.
I am still trying to figure out what triggers it. Today the filed flight plan took me past the airport, turned me around, and then it was straight back and in to the only airport and landing strip that existed. I was landing in CBBC (Campbell) airport in BC, Canada, so the flight plan took me North and then back South to land. I validated the flight plan a bunch and still got the message. The landing was spot on too (90-100 for all aspects of flight), so the only deduction I got was the 25 points for this bug.
Had the same thing happen to me twice yesterday.
I select runway and call out the chosen runway prior to updating position at least 3/4 times before going onto final. Mostly it works 100%. I even change things in the EFB now and as long as I select the runway each time I announce position it generally works. I have even been able to remove waypoints and GPS takes me to chosen runway without an issue. The only issue I get now from time to time is ATC not recognising I’m on final and then landing and having to take off again - go around through a waypoint that seems to not have been flown through - although it was.
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I will give that a go. I haven’t been announcing final manually, just doing what the mission steps tell me. They have been pretty inconsistent.
You have to wait until the arrival airport comes up in your communication box or if you searched for nearest airport to announce, the “select runway” is always at the bottom and you need to scroll down to find it.
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Started a gargo mission.
Changed the flightplan in the hanger to get a better take off and landing procedure. It was for landing rw06 and i switched to rw24
Switched to vfr straight in. Filed this changed plan again with atc
After entering the pc12 i uploaded the plan to the fms and checked it again. All runways According to plan. Landing was rw24. To be sure i filed the plan again with atc.
30 nm before landing i activted the vnav aporoach and send it to the fms. Checked and it was on rw24 . On the approach long final i got a atc clearing for the opposite runway 06. I changed the runway via the comms panel and got a clearing for runway rw24.
After landing i got the " landed on undesignated runway" fine…
Also why is ot that when i put the gear down on final.i get a warning that the landing was not retracted captain? It was for shure suring the whole flight? Is this a bug?
Irritating and annoying.
Please tell me if i did something wrong here
I get the same issue with the voice telling you you left the gear down - must be a bug. Only time I dont get it is if I am almost on final.
Do you have the same issue if you follow the OP’s steps to reproduce it?
• Yes, and in free flight also
Provide extra information to complete the original description of the issue:
•
upon landing in denver after flying for 2.5 hrs I get to my assigned alt. and ready for the atc to give me clearance for the isl 34L approach which was clearly stated upon my decent then as I enter the approach sure enough BOOM cleared for the ILS approach RWY 26L? Whaaaat !!!
If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:
•
My issue is similar but exact opposite. I have the runway filed with ATC and ATC is expecting that same runway. Now the issue is than upon arrival my pilot is calling out the exact opposite runway to ATC which was not filed and ATC never requested.
So I have to manually select the correct runway from communication section first. Then on final the silly pilot again calls out the wrong runway and I have to update it again.
This second time I get overloaded sometimes if in the middle of a crosswind landing - imagine fidgeting with the communication dialog box on final just before touchdown.
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I had this landing gear thing happening a few times on my PC 12 cargo missions. The workaround I now do is to manually pull up the gear after takeoff by manually pulling the gear handle with my mouse.
Same goes for flaps, I manually retract it otherwise on very rare occasions I end up getting over-speeding with flaps.
Definitely a bug I think.
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Still happening. Diligently checking the runway in the EFB flight plan, then selecting it in ATC radio, then pinged for landing on the wrong runway, then the stupid holdshort teleports to the other side of the airfield just as you get to it. Losing valuable rep. No wonder I can never max it out, try as I might.
This is annoying people, microsoft. This is YOUR promoted upgrade to a new and exciting career mode. Bugs galore still populate this mindless mess.
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Flying with 737, there is no consistent way to change the runway to land. If you make ANY changes to the flight plan before you start the flight, you will make the plane crash if you skip to the next phase, and risk flying a long mission with an extremely buggy landing you get no credit for. See my other posts.
I have noticed that if a runway has IFR only in one direction, it will refuse to select the opposite runway even if there’s a ridiculous tailwind.
I think for now folks we have no choice but to learn to land with tailwinds if we care to score well. Add a little speed and flaps so you don’t stall easily and be ready to buy some landing gear on the regular.
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'I think this sim specifically tries to find a reason to ding you '.
It seems that way because it is so frustrating. But I don’t think, judging by the non-sensical bugs that exist everywhere in the sim, that the programmers have sufficient RL experience to create consistently logical runway assignment, approaches, hold short locations and proper communication sequences all in conjunction with the flight plan and the sim weather.
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