Posted on 02/16/2020 9:42:30 AM PST by rdl6989
The skill of two pilots was captured on video as they landed the world's largest passenger plane sideways while battling heavy crosswinds at Heathrow Airport.
The Etihad Airbus A380, which is flown by two pilots, can be seen hovering metres above the tarmac as it attempted to touchdown on Saturday during Storm Dennis.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.sky.com ...
I’d say well done!
I’m betting ‘Autoland’ was used.
The then-wife and I were sitting in LAX waiting for our connecting flight when I noticed that around our gate, the terminal was getting quite full.
An arriving Varig 747 blew out 10 or 12 tires, and it was blocking the flight before ours at the gate, so the airline delayed boarding. Eventually, passengers were warned that they could board, but may be stuck for a while. Hardy bunch, since I think it was going to either JFK or Newark, but the terminal cleared out.
The Varig got moved fast, maybe in 15 minutes.
Given that it’s a bomb cyclone that covered the whole of the UK, it appeared that the nearest alternate landing field would have been in Paris. Everything else was in the buzzsaw. If they can get it on the ground in a sustained 50 MPH crosswind, I’ll take ‘em, even if they do it sideways.
I think they’re turning onto a taxi way.
Wondering what the planes forward knot speed is at touchdown, that sucker looks like it is floating. This is an United Arab Emirates airline. Wondering who this pilot is, and his background?
The max legal crosswind component for the A380 is only 33kts. The report says gusts were up to 50 mph which is 43 kts. This was an illegal landing in my book.
Two questions:
How long before expected arrival did they discover the winds were wild?
With the storm predicted for days, were they checking weather before fuel became a factor?
How far from London or from the point they were informed is Paris in flight time?
Considering weather conditions, arriving with only bare minimum fuel required by law would be in my book a decision granting the captain the opportunity to change careers.
Two questions:
How long before expected arrival did they discover the winds were wild?
With the storm predicted for days, were they checking weather before fuel became a factor?
How far from London or from the point they were informed is Paris in flight time?
Considering weather conditions, arriving with only bare minimum fuel required by law would be in my book a decision granting the captain the opportunity to change careers.
Didn't you mean to say near-zero ground speed? At near-zero airspeed it would fall like a rock.
Not me. I'd rather fly on planes where the pilots have more prudence than ego. Having wrote that, it may be that the winds were such that they didn't know they'd be in that kind of a situation until they had to land and could no longer go around.
I’m really sorry about that.
Yep!
I was sitting at the left side well behind the left wing.
As we were taking off I saw one of the two left side tires blow. I became concerned about our next Landing.
When we came in to land, the pilot rolled the plane to the right and we went hundreds of yards down the runway on the right side landing gear, until the left landing gear came in contact with the runway, and pieces of both tires came flying off. But we made it. -Tom
That was impressive. I remember watching a TV series on the History Channel about a privately owned Alaska airline that shuttled people around in the outer parts of the country. I was in awe when I watched one of their pilots landing in heavy winds. He had to approach the runway sideways in order to keep control of the plane. I never liked flying, and will hopefully have no reason to ever fly again, but I have to take my hat off to the pilots who handle these big planes, and can land safely when the weather isn’t being cooperative.
They are full crabbing when they should be doing more slipping. I’ve landed many aircraft in crosswinds exceeding “maximum demonstrated.” The danger in doing it they way they are doing is the extreme side pressure they are putting on the landing gear and tires. Most modern day airliners can land themselves and even automatically make the turn on to the taxiway. Unfortunately, that means there are many airline pilots out there that have just been along for the ride for years. I’ve actually observed their lacking abilities in extreme conditions.
Don’t worry about it.
It’s not the end of the world, just a preference of mine.
And you are far from the nonly one who has ever done it.
Absolutely.
As for this story, every air carrier has a cross wind component limit. I have no idea what the limit is for this particular aircraft but I doubt that it is 50 knots.
You bet it's not. Most of the time, it won't exceed the maximum demonstrated speed as defined in the POA for that plane. And, that number is likely close to 20 knots.
Maintenance crew will be working overtime on that one.
years ago a Woman did it with a smaller plane but still... Captain Brenda Riepsaame
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9ePtRpyyks
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