I love aviation every bit as much as miles & points, and over the years have seen some crazy crosswind landing videos. However, recently some videos have been uploaded of a Silkway 747 cargo aircraft landing at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. The plane has what must be one of the roughest landings I've ever seen, and…
Continue reading: The Roughest 747 Landing I’ve Ever Seen
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Hi Lucky,
This video reminds me of something I've always wondered: are cargo flights more likely to go for rough landings (or fly more direct routes through turbulence) because they don't have to worry about passenger complaints?
Not suggesting the pilot in the video was just going for it regardless, but just wondering if there's a "Eh, conditions aren't ideal, but the tulip shipments in the back can't fill out comment cards" factor.
The wind in Amsterdam most of the time is insane, I remember one time when I couldnt walk on some direction because the wind pushed back so hard that was almost impossible to go forward. Usually I take the train to Amsterdam from Paris just for this reason.
@John I'm pretty sure that they don't take that much into consideration... btw which passenger would complain about a rough landing? It's not like that's up to the pilots/airline
I would have liked to have seen the entire final approach - I wonder what the winds are doing.
I have seen landings at least as hard, though - and with passengers. There are several videos out there of 747s landing at old Kai Tac in Hong Kong.
For those who dont know, Kai Tac was the old international airport in Hong Kong, and (particulalry runway 13) was notoriously difficult, not only for its crosswinds but its turn at Checkerboard Hill. Once the turn was made, you were 2 miles from touchdown, and usually under 1000ft of altitude.
As they say "he put it right on the numbers ". Or "he got current with this landing " .
Umm, maybe the pilots were too busy doing very detailed (and certainly enjoyable) Instagram stories
HOW on earth can the tires/landing gear/attachment points, etc take that much stress without breaking? Amazing. Airplanes are so overbuilt it's not even funny.
@flyinryan - I agree, notice in the slow motion bit how violently the wing moves around on the initial impact.
I would have liked to know the Indicated Air Speed when they went over the threshold. Even though the nose is up, as it should be, the airplane is descending very rapidly, too rapidly. My first guess without knowing more is that they let the airspeed get to low and the plane was in a stall condition.