I bet every barf bag in the aircraft was full

Some serious pucker factor there!

The actual landing looked fairly soft, amazingly! Quite the ride down though.

I'll bet that pilot is working his ass off.

Some keen stewards of this stuff over on airliners.net opined that perhaps the vid was being shown at 1.25 or 1.5 speed and that if the approach was as daunting as portrayed, why didn't the pilot do a go around.

If real speed that's some sick passengers and some slick piloting skills.

Good thing the Bus Driver did not shoot for that pot of gold.

Always wandered what some of the landings looked like from the outside.

I been in a bunch of "dicy" take off and landings, and most are "fun" (from a certain point of view). Some had nothing to do with weather. But three landings like that, that I remember well.

One in a T39 at Pope AFB. Single approach, full stop. March 1978
Winds were approx 25kts, crosswind..

The slats on the T-39 are dynamic, being driven by the air pressure against them/airflow over them and the wing. So on this landing, they kept retracting and extending, and most of the time we were at the envelope that they deployed/retracted and it the crosswind gusts and input commands by the A/C were resulting in the slats cycling oddly, one wing then the other then both, then one wing, then the other, repeat. It makes for a very wild ride on the way down. And more pedal pushing and yoke yanking that you do rigging flight controls. So, I rate this one as an 8 on pucker factor. (and as close to what carrier approach must be like on a good day...)

Once in an AC-130H at Hurlburt Field, 3 approaches, diverted to Duke Field, one approach, and full stop. Dec. 1979
Winds were approx 35 kts gusts.
The Turkey, is pretty damned solid most of the time, but in gusty wind, it is like trying to carry a sheet of 4x8 plywood in a hurricane.


One in a B-737 in Wichita. 1981 Bad thunderstorm, broke out about 200 feet and less than a 1/4 mile form the numbers.

The axiom, "A good landing is any you can walk away from." Is stated by the rest of the aircrew as: "A good pilot is any that does not get an Air Force Base named after himself." (with you on board).

The 737 is another "big sheet of plywood" when its windy. Stubby little fucker is solid most of the time, but stay out of the gusty stuff.

And those De Havilland type things in bad wind. Nope, nope, nope. I'll call the Uber, and have another cup of coffee while I wait until it picks me up.

Ech, I have my personal opinions that have come through surviving a landing or two like that.

Go around. Screw that hero stuff unless someone is having a heart attack or you're almost out of gas.

Technique wise, I'll have to disagree with slick piloting skills. I'll quote one of the best captains I ever flew with while on the smallest airliner I ever flew (J-32 Jetstream):

Him: "Pardner (if he called you that he generally liked you), how many yaw dampers does this here airplane have?"

Me: "Ummm, none, Brian."

Him: "WRONG! It's got two, and the one in the right seat better do its damn job before the one in the left seat throws up!"

As an aside, I'd have loved to see the hands of the pilot flying. In my experience, a lot of "turbulence" down the approach can be attributed to heavy hands and overcorrection when things get sporty.

Or maybe they really are badasses.

My free opinion is worth every penny. LOL

Remind me to never fly to Dusseldorf on a windy day.

extra crabby

I agree, that was dicey on the approach but he or she made a landing but I wonder how many pax were bent over their barf bags. I wonder what the pireps said and if the aircraft exceeded it's max crosswind rating.

quote:

Originally posted by bushpilot:
...I wonder what the pireps said and if the aircraft exceeded it's max crosswind rating.

Just remember. As our management has been known to remind us, x-wind numbers are not lmitations, they are simply maximum DEMONSTRATED wind speeds.

I happen to know a captain who landed an MD-11 well in excess of the book numbers because he had no other choice. Of course if he had screwed up...well we know how that would go.

He had us practice it in the simulator, and I got it right the third time.

quote:

Originally posted by two-two-niner-romeo:
Remind me to never fly to Dusseldorf on a windy day.

1. Fly into Frankfurt.
2. Take the train to Düsseldorf.

quote:

Originally posted by Sgt Neutron:

quote:

Originally posted by two-two-niner-romeo:
Remind me to never fly to Dusseldorf on a windy day.

1. Fly into Frankfurt.
2. Take the train to Düsseldorf.

1. Take ship to Rotterdam.
2. Rent car to get to Düsseldorf.

quote:

Originally posted by Killer:
I'll bet that pilot is working his ass off.

THEN he changed his soiled shorts!

"Bring me my brown pants..."

quote:

Originally posted by downtownv:

quote:

Originally posted by Killer:
I'll bet that pilot is working his ass off.

THEN he changed his soiled shorts!