How safe is this..!?

[Ari]

I appreciate the correct answer is 'very', since they wouldn't be doing it otherwise, but it doesn't flippin look it!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/weather/11336148/W...

[peter tdci]

Looks like a strong but steady crosswind. Each aircraft will have their own published crosswind landing limits, so the pilots wouldn't have attempted the landings if the wind was too strong for the aircraft. The 737 at the end of the clip looked pretty stable at touchdown, so good piloting! What passengers thought when they looked out of the window and appeared to be staring down the middle of the runway is a different matter!

[pherlopolus]

I have had a landing like that in inverness, was great fun

[marshalla]

Normal for Leeds. Not much fun as a passenger, but normal for Leeds.

[Ari]

peter tdci said:

Looks like a strong but steady crosswind. Each aircraft will have their own published crosswind landing limits, so the pilots wouldn't have attempted the landings if the wind was too strong for the aircraft.

So if the wind unexpectedly picks up beyond the limits what happens then? Park it on a cloud at 25,000ft for a day or two till the wind drops?

[ecsrobin]

Ari said:

peter tdci said:

Looks like a strong but steady crosswind. Each aircraft will have their own published crosswind landing limits, so the pilots wouldn't have attempted the landings if the wind was too strong for the aircraft.

So if the wind unexpectedly picks up beyond the limits what happens then? Park it on a cloud at 25,000ft for a day or two till the wind drops?

They divert to an airfield which is in limits.

[peter tdci]

Ari said:

So if the wind unexpectedly picks up beyond the limits what happens then? Park it on a cloud at 25,000ft for a day or two till the wind drops?

Divert to an airport where the runway points more directly into the wind? It's not so much the strength of the wind head on that matters, it's the crosswind component of it.

[truck71]

The design of the aircraft always impresses me in these situations, they look so forgiving on touch down instead of spitting the plane into the field.

[NM62]

Used to be a plane spotter at Leeds back in the 70's and 80's saw plenty of landings that were "worse" than those in the videos.

Worse one I saw was a Spanish operated 737 come out of low cloud at something like 45 degrees wing down to the runway, he made it "safely" BUT there was a lot of screaming on board according tho the handling crews.

Even saw an empty 737 land on the old 28/10 crosswind runway - that was impressive!

[aeropilot]

That EasyJet one at the end had a right old wiggle-on for the runout once touched down.

I've been a PAX on take-off/landing in a stronger cross wind like that but in one of these - now that was fun

[peter tdci]

aeropilot said:

That EasyJet one at the end had a right old wiggle-on for the runout once touched down.

If you search for 'flugsnug' on Youtube, then you'll see this on some of his clips. If you look at this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P9OAng32F0 then you'll see some spectacular landings!

[danjama]

BRILLIANT stuff in that video. Reminds me of taking off from Dublin last year during that big storm they had, in think it was Feb or March? We'd sat on the ground for 3 hours, doing laps of the parameter. The take off, as a life time aviation enthusiast, was one of the most thrilling moments of my life. Great work from the female pilot.

Love watching them work the rudder on those hairy landings.

Edited by danjama on Sunday 11th January 14:37

[chilistrucker]

Blimey, watching that link was a real eye opener. I thought keeping a truck upright, and on the road in high winds was entertaining, but nothing compared to that. I take my hat off to every single pilot who has ever had to do that, it certainly looks like a challenge

[IanMorewood]

Divert from Leeds to Manchester, Sheffield, East Midlands or Liverpool pretty easy, obviously it screws people's forward journeys up a bit but way better than crashing your Airbus.

[carreraplanes]

Now that's whatchercall kicking off the drift!!!

[mattdaniels]

Ari said:

peter tdci said:

Looks like a strong but steady crosswind. Each aircraft will have their own published crosswind landing limits, so the pilots wouldn't have attempted the landings if the wind was too strong for the aircraft.

So if the wind unexpectedly picks up beyond the limits what happens then? Park it on a cloud at 25,000ft for a day or two till the wind drops?

Pilots and pedants will tell you there's no such thing as a crosswind limit. Aircraft have a "maximum demonstrated crosswind" which is the maximum crosswind component that the aircraft was landed in during flight testing. It's not a limit, legal or structural or otherwise. So the aircraft won't suddenly break just because you've landed with a crosswind component higher than the maximum demonstrated crosswind figure.

That said, it is a figure that does hold some significance. On top of that, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the particular airline might state a lower figure, above which you divert to one of your pre-planned alternates.

[peter tdci]

mattdaniels said:

Pilots and pedants will tell you there's no such thing as a crosswind limit. Aircraft have a "maximum demonstrated crosswind" which is the maximum crosswind component that the aircraft was landed in during flight testing. It's not a limit, legal or structural or otherwise. So the aircraft won't suddenly break just because you've landed with a crosswind component higher than the maximum demonstrated crosswind figure.

That said, it is a figure that does hold some significance. On top of that, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the particular airline might state a lower figure, above which you divert to one of your pre-planned alternates.

That's what I thought, but you've expressed it better than me! There's probably no saying what crosswind conditions an aircraft 'could' land in, but the manufacturers test them and then the airlines make a judgement in their SOPs, factoring in things like risk management and that all their pilots won't necessarily have all the skills of the test pilots

[VernalEquinox]

There does tend to be a number at which you run out of control deflection though

[Ari]

peter tdci said:

If you search for 'flugsnug' on Youtube, then you'll see this on some of his clips. If you look at this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P9OAng32F0 then you'll see some spectacular landings!

Some impressive dabs of oppo there..!