Video of Emirates pilot's derring-do goes viral

[Al Bhatti]

Jan 24, 2012

Video of Emirates pilot's derring-do goes viral

Footage of an Emirates airline pilot who made landing a Boeing in a storm look like a breeze has gone viral.

The clip was shot at Düsseldorf in Germany by Martin Bogdan, who uploaded it to his Cargospotter YouTube channel on January 5. Since then it has been viewed more than 1.7 million times.

An Emirates Boeing 777-300 is the first of a number of passenger aircraft featured on the video, which lasts for nearly ten minutes. The plane is seen head-on, descending towards the runway at an angle as the pilot compensates for the wind buffeting the aircraft from the side.

Just before the wheels touch the tarmac the pilot straightens up and makes a faultless landing. The plane then swings round to reveal the Emirates name on the side and the UAE's colours on its tail fin.

The second plane to land in the video is an Air Berlin plane, Etihad's new European aviation partner.

Karim Hijazi, the managing director of Dubai-based safety consultancy Air Synapsis and a former military pilot, said approaching the runway at an angle was the key to landing safely in such circumstances.

"During the approach you have to maintain the trajectory on the centre line of the runway, so to balance the crosswinds you need to fly with the nose turned into the wind," he added.

"This is why from the ground the aircraft seems to be flying sideways. When you make contact with the runway you need to align the nose with the runway because if you land laterally the impact could damage the undercarriage."

[video]www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMvLuUJFHYk.[/video]

Video of Emirates pilot's derring-do goes viral - The National

 

[untitled]

That is one hell of a Stick n Rudder man

 

[Chogy]

OK, I have to be a jerk now...

The conditions were challenging, to be sure. That looked like a pretty stout cross wind. What you do is maintain the crab angle to about 100 feet... this keeps the airplane tracking straight. At 100 feet or so, you kick in enough rudder to align the fuselage with the runway - in this case, left rudder. Simultaneously, you need to lower the right wing tip. This prevents the airplane from drifting left, being blown with the wind. Ideally then, you land first on the right landing gear set, then the left, then you lower the nose.

It looked like he aligned the fuselage a bit late and really didn't have it stabilized before touchdown. Additionally, he landed rather hard. Because he wasn't properly aligned, you can see the nose of the airplane jerking pretty violently as the tires begin to track.

The 777 is actually one of the easier transports to land. The triple-wheeled main gear "truck" (that's what the assembly of wheels is called) is canted for touchdown, and they absorb a lot of energy and make the landing softer than it'd be in like a 737.

Not trying to slam the guy. I'm just wondering why this went viral. I'd call it an average landing at best.

 

[CaptainJackSparrow]

Obviously he got lucky, the winds got favorable at the very last moment.

Else, it was sureshot way to the heavens for all aboard.

The pilot should in fact have been more sagacious and try again. Nothing demands such foolhardiness from a pilot unless the fuel's running out or there happens to be a technical snag.

 

[Chogy]

One 757 in the video did a go-around.

The thing is, these jets are rated for a particular cross-wind. Let's say it's 30 knots. If the wind is reported at 28 knots, it's a legal scenario and you have to get the airplane on the ground. To NOT do it says "I am a bad pilot and cannot operate this airplane under its basic limitations." Such a pilot would probably be let go, eventually.

On the other hand, if the reported wind is 32 knots, you cannot even ATTEMPT a landing.

 

[VCheng]

One 757 in the video did a go-around.

The thing is, these jets are rated for a particular cross-wind. Let's say it's 30 knots. If the wind is reported at 28 knots, it's a legal scenario and you have to get the airplane on the ground. To NOT do it says "I am a bad pilot and cannot operate this airplane under its basic limitations." Such a pilot would probably be let go, eventually.

On the other hand, if the reported wind is 32 knots, you cannot even ATTEMPT a landing.

It is the sudden gusts that get the adrenaline pumping!

 

[SQ8]

Id be impressed if any of these guys landed an early 707 or BAC-1-11 without the fancy thingamabobs in them such as auto-spoilers, canted wheels.. GPWS..etc

 

[Donatello]

OK, I have to be a jerk now...

The conditions were challenging, to be sure. That looked like a pretty stout cross wind. What you do is maintain the crab angle to about 100 feet... this keeps the airplane tracking straight. At 100 feet or so, you kick in enough rudder to align the fuselage with the runway - in this case, left rudder. Simultaneously, you need to lower the right wing tip. This prevents the airplane from drifting left, being blown with the wind. Ideally then, you land first on the right landing gear set, then the left, then you lower the nose.

It looked like he aligned the fuselage a bit late and really didn't have it stabilized before touchdown. Additionally, he landed rather hard. Because he wasn't properly aligned, you can see the nose of the airplane jerking pretty violently as the tires begin to track.

The 777 is actually one of the easier transports to land. The triple-wheeled main gear "truck" (that's what the assembly of wheels is called) is canted for touchdown, and they absorb a lot of energy and make the landing softer than it'd be in like a 737.

Not trying to slam the guy. I'm just wondering why this went viral. I'd call it an average landing at best.

I've flown in the cockpit of a 777-200LR...during take off and landing...and i was surprised at how little work the two pilots actually do. Most of it is fed into the computers.

Now this landing, looks a bit harsh, but almost all the commercial aviation pilots are trained for this. Cross-wind landings are part of their course and training, so it would be better to say, that they were just doing their jobs.

Most of the time the plane flies itself. It is times like these when pilots actually do 'some work'.....and 777 being famous for it's automation...is actually a very easy bird to fly.

 

[Chogy]

"Easy to fly" is a relatively true statement... when all goes well, which it does 99.8% of the time. We are paid for doing two things primarily. One, for undesrtanding and being able to navigate through the equivalent of tens of thousands of rules and regulations regarding modern instrument flight. "What is the minimum RVR you need to allow Category 2 ILS vs Category 3?" Stuff like that. The amount of data is immense, and it's all transparent to passengers.

The other thing, when stuff goes wrong, it can go badly wrong. An engine fire, a windshear event. That's what the simulators are for.

 

[untitled]

The other thing, when stuff goes wrong, it can go badly wrong. An engine fire, a windshear event. That's what the simulators are for.

That is what a pilot is paid for and where he earns his keep. In an Emergency

 

[Jango]

One thing i have to ask, are the landing gears on a rotatable axis, so that even if the fuselage is pointing at an angle, the gears continue to go straight?

 

[untitled]

One thing i have to ask, are the landing gears on a rotatable axis, so that even if the fuselage is pointing at an angle, the gears continue to go straight?

As long as the tail does not touch the ground you should be fine

 

[VCheng]

One thing i have to ask, are the landing gears on a rotatable axis, so that even if the fuselage is pointing at an angle, the gears continue to go straight?

Some aircraft do, but those are not civilian passenger aircraft.

 

[TOPGUN]

I think the pilot did a good job landing the aircraft .. can't say it was a perfect given the winds playing tricks on the planes doesn't make it easy for them to land the aircrafts.

 

[Hulk]

OK, I have to be a jerk now...

The conditions were challenging, to be sure. That looked like a pretty stout cross wind. What you do is maintain the crab angle to about 100 feet... this keeps the airplane tracking straight. At 100 feet or so, you kick in enough rudder to align the fuselage with the runway - in this case, left rudder. Simultaneously, you need to lower the right wing tip. This prevents the airplane from drifting left, being blown with the wind. Ideally then, you land first on the right landing gear set, then the left, then you lower the nose.

It looked like he aligned the fuselage a bit late and really didn't have it stabilized before touchdown. Additionally, he landed rather hard. Because he wasn't properly aligned, you can see the nose of the airplane jerking pretty violently as the tires begin to track.

The 777 is actually one of the easier transports to land. The triple-wheeled main gear "truck" (that's what the assembly of wheels is called) is canted for touchdown, and they absorb a lot of energy and make the landing softer than it'd be in like a 737.

Not trying to slam the guy. I'm just wondering why this went viral. I'd call it an average landing at best.

Yes, I had the same feeling if this aircraft was not aligned to runway till the touch down, it seemed risky to me.