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I finally saw a crosswind landing (aka airport runway drifting) at an airport in person

signal

signal

Member
Oct 28, 2017
40,212
I've only ever seen videos of these and what I saw in person wasn't as extreme as below footage, but even less severe crosswind landings are crazy. It was only an A320 so nothing obscene but seeing some of these giant planes get tossed around like the A380 is a bit surreal. Maybe less so for the Dash 8.

It's cool to think of it as Airborne Initial D at least. Also as far as I know the "sideways" aspect of this isn't that bad for passengers, just depends on how hard the landing is, but it must be funny if you get a window seat and you can see the centerline.


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OP
OP
signal

signal

Member
Oct 28, 2017
40,212
Sega Dreamcast said:
I didn't know this even existed and now I'm having a panic attack.
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I think it looks worse than it is to experience (as a passenger) but again depends on how hard the overall landing is I think. In that third gif you can see the landing is pretty smooth overall and I don't think most passengers would even notice.

The ones where the planes are being tossed around like nothing though, lol. Not something I'd want to experience (assuming it's as bad as it appears)
 
Panther2103

Panther2103

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,916
Oh boy I love seeing these threads the day before I have to take a flight. Honestly it might be kind of cool to be on a flight landing like that, as long as there was no way you were going to get harmed.
 
Terminus

Terminus

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
1,874
signal said:
I think it looks worse than it is to experience (as a passenger) but again depends on how hard the overall landing is I think. In that third gif you can see the landing is pretty smooth overall and I don't think most passengers would even notice.

The ones where the planes are being tossed around like nothing though, lol. Not something I'd want to experience (assuming it's as bad as it appears)
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This depends greatly on whether you can see down the aisle into the cockpit and through the canopy.
 
Bear

Bear

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,894
Pretty sure this is how a plane I was in last week landed. We came down hard on one side first, then landed the other side after wobbling back and forth. It was pretty scary.
 
OP
OP
signal

signal

Member
Oct 28, 2017
40,212
Dralos said:
seeing that A380 getting tossed around like that is quite something.
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Yeah not sure if that's just extreme wind or a less skilled landing but usually the A380s in the crosswind videos are like "yeah whatever" *lands straight* while the other planes are almost rolling over.
 

Deleted member 33887

User requested account closure
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Nov 20, 2017
2,109
That Emirates aborted landing is giving me some serious anxiety. I think one of my flights had some cross wind because the landing was abnormally hard when the landing gears hit the ground. Also reminds me of Warthunder where the plane is shot to pieces and starts listing one way on landing and you're not entirely sure whether to land or abort. But there's not several hundred people's lives in your hands... I would never want to be a commercial pilot.
 
djplaeskool

djplaeskool

Member
Oct 26, 2017
19,788
Experienced this a couple times landing at McCarran Intl in Vegas, since the wind tends to whip down into the valley.
The lateral inertia in the cabin can definitely be discomforting, but pilots know how to handle these conditions.
 

Deleted member 8468

User requested account closure
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Oct 26, 2017
9,109
I've been in a plane for one of these landings. Nothing particularly special. Looks crazy from the outside though.
 
TheMan

TheMan

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,264
Interesting to see but I wouldn't be suprised to learn that handling even this stuff is largely automated.
 
PJV3

PJV3

Member
Oct 25, 2017
25,676
London
The runway in the last video is too uneven for me, fuck that for a game of soldiers. i dont do roller-coasters.
 
mute

mute

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Oct 25, 2017
25,128
Those gifs just make me want to not do planes for the rest of my life.
 
PanickyFool

PanickyFool

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
5,947
signal said:
Yeah not sure if that's just extreme wind or a less skilled landing but usually the A380s in the crosswind videos are like "yeah whatever" *lands straight* while the other planes are almost rolling over.
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The A380s tail is so fucking huge it is susceptible to this.
 
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KHarvey16

KHarvey16

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
9,193
TheMan said:
Interesting to see but I wouldn't be suprised to learn that handling even this stuff is largely automated.
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Typically autoland is only used in low visibility conditions, and it can be pretty rare to have both low visibility and high crosswinds. On a clear day the pilot will almost always land by hand.
 
Leynos

Leynos

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,057
Cross-wind landings are interesting, but we usually know about such conditions before attempting them. What sucks though are when you get sudden unexpected gusts that blow you all over the place on approach. Those I can do without.
 
m_shortpants

m_shortpants

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,263
It's pretty incredible the stress that these machines can tolerate. I'd probably still be shitting my pants though.
 

Allforce

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,136
Didn't they land big ass jets in hostile areas like Iraq and Afghanistan during the war by doing some crazy 80 degree dive to the runway and then pulling up at the last second to land? Something about it being safer to avoid being shot by a rocket from the ground. I remember reading some US diplomat talk about it when they were flying to Iraq for something but I forgot what the technique is called but it sounded horrifying.
 
Orbis

Orbis

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,340
UK
Really cool to watch, admittedly slightly terrifying. To reassure people, this happens literally on a daily basis around the world, and just because it's more difficult to land in such conditions doesn't mean it's necessarily dangerous. The pilots also obtain information regarding the direction and speed of wind so they are well prepared and know how to compensate for it.
 
Catdaddy

Catdaddy

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,963
TN
Most major airports where cross winds are common have the crossing runways to avoid this.. Here in the Nashville most weather comes from the west but its not uncommon for storms to come from the south or wrap around winds from strong cold fronts… And yeah those are cool to watch especially when you know the pilots are trained for this...
 
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