I was on DL1770 yesterday evening, and captain announced that due to expected turbulence close to our destination, he will turn on the seatbelt signs early and cabin service will end.
On approach to LGA it was a little turbulent, as plane was wobbling side to side, but no drops or anything of the sort. As the plane was approaching the runway, the wobbling continued, and was more than I recall experiencing ever before, and eventually the rear landing gear touched down, only to have the pilot give full thrust and take off again for a go around. About a minute later the captain came on the PA system and just said that he's doing a go-around in order to land.
Apparently FlightRader24.com intervals doesn't seem to catch the actual touch down, as the lowest altitude it seems to show on the first approach is 350ft.
I wasn't really paying attention to the flight data on the seatback screen on the first approach, but on the second approach I noticed over 40mph headwinds upon approach, and about 25mph headwinds on landing. The second landing was relatively smooth IMHO. Though there was some wobbling on approach, and obviously panicky passengers with every smallest tilt of the aircraft. Upon touchdown of rear landing gear most people began clapping, I waited until the front gear touched down, as I clearly remembered what happened on the first touchdown.
DW slept through the first touchdown with infant in arms, and was awoken by what sounded like panicky gasps with every little tilt from a passenger directly behind her during the go around. Across the aisle from me I could hear a female passenger crying hysterically, and DW says she overheard people mentioning (baseless) fear of running out of fuel. I really didn't know what to make of this, and was wondering if winds made it impossible to land at LGA and we might be diverted to another airport.
I am sure the captain did everything in the most professional way to land the aircraft safely. My only beef with the situation was the lack of transparency. I think it would have been much better (and calming to the passengers) if the captain would have come on the PA system and explained what had happened on the first approach, and why it is safe to make a go-around and land in LGA with the prevailing weather conditions.
Any pilots on DDF that want to share insights, or anyone with similar experiences, please share.
On a side note, my weekend trip was booked quite late, so I ended up going to FL on Southwest with a connection in TPA (seemed like a large percentage of LGA-TPA passengers continued to FLL). It's been a while since I last flew Southwest, and while having free checked bags is nice, and I actually think open seating and their boarding system works very well, I found the DL hard and soft product to be by far superior (though both DW and I were surprised that none of the DL flight attendants ever heard of, or seen, a Yoyo stroller - they couldn't believe when I showed them how it folds up and fits in the overhead bin). On the short hop from TPA to FLL they just made an announcement that due to expected turbulence there will be no snack and beverage service on the flight. Needless to say there was no noticeable turbulence.