I love dramatic landings, and have been lucky to have few, one where the captain got a round applause and looking down from the back i could see the plane twist slightly 😈 but none sideways yet…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17863501

Jeez – brown pants time there!

Still – if it was Ryanair they’d charge extra for the ‘entertainment / excitement’.

That’s where the pilots earn their money. One in the eye for the smart arses who unclip their seatblets too early as well. 😈

Any landing you walk away from is a good landing. If you can use the plane again it’s a great landing
😀

Yep, did that comming into London City airport one year at night in a storm, me and my slightly drunk, tough, climbing mates nearly shit ourselves ! Knew we were in for a bumby one when he abandoned first attemp and we circled for 20mins. We were laughing until the last couple of hundred feet, really did think it was all over!!!

Cripes!

I was going to say that’s why I like ferry travel but I’m not sure Portsmouth – Bilbao would have been any better than that landing.

Had a rough landing at Bournemouth a few years back but nothing like that.

That first one, jeez!

Women pilots! 🙄

Tactical approach to Basra in back of a Hercules was good fun.

It was a bit rough coming in to Dublin today – got tossed around a bit (not that much of course) but at the last second the pilot smooched it down smooth as you like. Top job. Even in what was a pretty rickety old plane, to be honest.

mmm valium and good few g&t’s

I live in Wellington. Scary landings are pretty much guaranteed.

Nicely done the last one on that clip 8)

Last landing was brilliantly executed….loads of rudder to side slip in…. suddenly straightens out on the air cushion and chops the throttle….. always wanted to be a RAF pilot as a kid…… spent thousands of hours on sims and did some gliding….I’d have been an airline pilot if it wasn’t so damn expensive. You need money to make money in aviation.

Agreed the last landing was good, but it was the biggest of the ‘planes.

Erm. This is not filling me with all that much confidence for my flight home.

Cheers chaps.

I’ll think of it as a replacement of adrenaline for not being able to ride my bike all week.

There some brilliant ones like this on youtube…especially the ones where they are testing the limits of new aircraft before the flight manual has been finished 🙂

Lots of side slip, landing and then trying to stop under full power (and then putting out the fires on each wheel) taking off at low speed and dragging the tail on the runway, you get the picture 🙂

I’ve had a landing like that before going into some small airport in Romania. There was a heavy wind and the airport is on a plateau above the surrounding land so it gets the worst of it.

On the return leg there was a burned out plane of the same model next to the runway that had crashed the day after I arrived because of the wind (nobody seriously injured). That made for confidence for the flight home. Never went back there (it was for work and could avoid it).

taking off in Jersey airport towards Guernsey there’s a cliff at the end of the runway.

Took off in a Trislander (10 seat commutter plane) into a strong headwind and just as we cleared the cliff there was a sudden drop in wind strength.

The plane dropped below the level of the cliff top and we all got to get that ‘slightly weightless’ feeling whilst simultaneously watching the pilot (who was about 2ft from me) have a bit of a panic.

I’ve only had one landing where the pilot got a round of applause. The fact the cabin crew joined in made me think it was probably a pretty good effort on his part.

I was chatting to ex commercial pilot a couple of years ago, it wasn’t long after there had been some footage of a dramatic landing somewhere. I asked him if he’d any like that, loads was his answer he flew long haul and flew regular into the old Honk Kong airport. He reckoned it was a lot easier than it looked as the planes computers helped a lot too. Still takes some skill in my eyes too.

I’ve had a few and find it all rather exciting never felt nervous.

That first clip is good. I’ve landed in much worse at Glasgow airport though. I swear the left wing was inches from hitting the ground! There were people being sick everywhere too! It was a right mess!

And then I had to wait 4 hours on the winds to calm down so they could get the luggage off!

That was fun.

my last flight from Berloin to Munich involved a bit of a funky landing. as an aside, german like clapping and applauding the pilot regardless of how involving the landing was. find that a bit odd.

always wanted to be a RAF pilot as a kid…… spent thousands of hours on sims and did some gliding….I’d have been an airline pilot if it wasn’t so damn expensive. You need money to make money in aviation.

a friends brother was the same as you. spent hours on a flight simulator, had pictures of cockpits in his room, 25 and still a virgin. he went into the RAF and completed most of his training before being bought out by BA. he completed his training with them and now flies long-haul. he was an oik like myself. i don’t think he spent much money on his pilots license.

I lived in Wellington for 25 years and visit often.

As NZCol says, excitement is pretty much as routine as the bad coffee.

I was on a flight once when the captain decided he wasn’t happy with his approach and went around for another go, which was fun. A friend of mine was landing at Wellington when a bird flew into an engine and they lost one of them (engines, not birds). Also fun.

Your, you’re and yaw.

He reckoned it was a lot easier than it looked as the planes computers helped a lot too

Try doing that in a Microlight or light aircraft without any computers.

Landings like this always look pretty hairy to the untrained eye and it might feel weird approaching a runway sideways but there’s normally nothing to much to worry about provided the crosswind is within operating limits.

A constant cross wind is fairly easy to deal with. Set a drift angle or get the aircraft side slipping, round out positively and kick the aircraft straight with the rudder just before touchdown keeping the into wind aileron up and the into wind wing slightly lower.

In these conditions a nice positive touch down is desirable to firmly plant the aircraft on the runway. You don’t want the aircraft floating and drifting off centre at this stage. Again, to the untrained eye this may feel like a hard or bumpy landing but is actually the desired outcome from the pilot.

The difficulty comes with gusty conditions when things become a lot more interesting. The second jet drifts well off the runway centreline and was absolutely correct to go around and try again.

To anyone who’s nervous about flying, I’d recommend taking a couple of lessons in a light aircraft. That will open your eyes and you will learn that most of the normal stuff that airline passengers get nervous about is nothing really to worry about at all.

Shame the BBC couldnt match the views of the approaching plane (overhead) to the plane thats landing.

Landing in Lukla in Nepal is … stimulating. Recommend you don’t watch YouTube videos of it before you go. No second chances or go-arounds. Once you start the approach, you land. Or you don’t.

Try doing that in a Microlight or light aircraft without any computers.

He mentioned that too.

Landings like this always look pretty hairy to the untrained eye and it might feel weird approaching a runway sideways but there’s normally nothing to much to worry about provided the crosswind is within operating limits.

Is pretty much what he said.

Rebel12.

Not sure which computers help you there; none of those approaches were Autoland.

Lots of drift to kick off on a swept wing = nasty!! I prefer Mr Lockheeds wing-down technique but it doesn’t work on the types seen in the clip.

That said, I’ve had some shockers!!

A mate managed a 4g landing in a Hawk. The aircraft was sent into the Hangar for heavy landing checks, all okay. The next day it was towed out to the line and just before it got to its slot, the undercarriage collapsed! I think it was a sign of protest!

To be fair, landing a warrior in a x-wind is hideous!! Inertia can be your friend sometimes in the bigger stuff!

a friends brother was the same as you. spent hours on a flight simulator, had pictures of cockpits in his room, 25 and still a virgin. he went into the RAF and completed most of his training before being bought out by BA. he completed his training with them and now flies long-haul. he was an oik like myself. i don’t think he spent much money on his pilots license.

If he was bought out before basic…I Would never ever give up the chance to fly fast jets and go and fly for BA instead. The money would be better but that would be it.

Spent most of my time as a 12 year old learning how to escape SAM’s and put laser guided bombs through rooftops on Falcon 4. Always got bored of civilian sims.

Eyesight turned out not to be good enough, after being told I should join the RAF by the civilian instructors I had for some of my lessons and some RAF pilots who I had a tangle with on a sim at an airshow. Nevermind. The dreams you have as children fade away eh?

And being an airline pilot is essentially hi altitude bus driving except the parking is much harder..

and I’ll say this….. flying (except cessna’s) is one of the best experiences you can have. If anyone wants a go make sure you go up in gliders or something with a bit of speed and manoeuvrability. It’s as addictive as heroin. The only thing that I reckon I could try that would give me the same buzz would be superbike racing.

Mate of mine flys private jets for a living, having flown bigger jets previously. (hates it when I say he’s a glorified taxi driver)

Flying back in to Manchester 3 or so years back we got in to one hell of a storm just at landing, it went almost dark, you couldnt see past the wings and water was streaming off the wings and engines. It was pretty dam windy and the aircraft was diving up and down and wing tips all over the place.

There wasn’t a sound in the cabin. At the last minute before touchdown the whole aircraft pitch violently and it felt like a wing tip was going to hit the runway, and the front of the aircraft appeared to be going sideways.

A few screams later the aircraft began to straighten up as we slewed down the run way. At looked at my mate and he looked just as brown trousers as every one else.

There was no clapping, and think people were sh!tting themselves too much. When we stopped I said to my mate, that the pilot did a good job. He said that the computers would have landed the aircraft as they can do a better job than the pilot!

Had that in Shetland. Approaching at a 45 degree (or so it felt) angle around the bay to land and then landing like than in that wind wasn’t fun.

To cap that particular visit off, I returned to aberdeen in a 20 or so seater, to be blown so hard off the approach by a gust that

a) The tone of the engines died from the force of the wind, only to rev to the max as the pilot aborted

b) Me and everyone on my side of the place could see the runway go 90 degrees to the plane as we were blown away.

I really thought it was my last ever flight – the woamn next to me was screaming and bawling and TBH I was pretty close to joining her.

toys19

Which airline do you/did you work for?

Not sure which computers help you there; none of those approaches were Autoland.

I have no idea, I was repeating what the guy told me.

I love landings like that! The worst one recently was a landing in thick fog at Liverpool. Couldn’t see a bloody thing. I normally have a reasonable sense of direction but I couldn’t work out where we were or what direction we were turning or anything. Everyone applauded when the pilot (or more likely, the computer) landed us in that.

Eyesight turned out not to be good enough, after being told I should join the RAF by the civilian instructors I had for some of my lessons and some RAF pilots who I had a tangle with on a sim at an airshow. Nevermind. The dreams you have as children fade away eh?

My dream too – in the RAF Cadets at school, loads of flying in Chipmunks and then Bulldogs, did my Initial and Basic Glider Training courses, parachute jumps, had all the chats with RAF Careers but deep down I knew my eyesight was never going to be good enough. 🙁

I’ve done various bits of flying since, had a few lessons usually bought for me as presents but I’ve never had the time or money to go for a PPL. I actually prefer helicopters to fixed wing – the landings might not be as impressive but there’s still something in me that thinks helicopters just shouldn’t work which is why they’re cooler than planes.

Not sure which computers help you there; none of those approaches were Autoland.
I have no idea, I was repeating what the guy told me.

The “computers” do aid with rudder and aileron controls, if you use both it will “help” keep the aircraft in the right direction and the wind is also taken into account (it gets this info as well). But this won’t mask poor pilot’s, trust me on a windy day at Heathrow you can see the better pilots and you can tell who flys in warm calm conditions for most of their flying days.

the landings might not be as impressive but there’s still something in me that thinks helicopters just shouldn’t work which is why they’re cooler than planes.

They also give you less warning of impending doom!

Had some really nasty buffeting of the plane coming back into Manchester last time I flew, but the landing was one of the smoothest I’ve ever experienced.

Any landing at Courchevel looks pretty interesting

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNFNFZq2BFY&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]