Lufthansa Hamburg Windy Landing

[NEOWatcher]

I know many of you are plane buffs. This video is on CNN without a story (yet)
Ever see a plane land sideways? I was just amazed the pilot even attempted it (I'm sure there were plenty of trade-offs...maybe fuel)

Plane scrapes wing during landing in Germany (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/03/germany.plane/index.html)

[Moose]

It's call "crabbing", and looks pretty scary to this non-flying enthusiast. Although some larger aircraft can rotate their landing gear somewhat to make crabbing safer to attempt.

Airliners.net has many example photos of crabbing, and the really impressive ones tend to show up in the "best of" sections.

[geonuc]

I think that would be pretty scary to anybody! :eek:

[NEOWatcher]

MSNBC has (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23446713/) more details...
Airline spokesman Wolfgang Weber said the plane was rocked by wind clocked at 250 kph (155 mph) as it tried to land.:eek:
They don't mention the sustained wind speed. It looked like a lot more of an issue than just a gust.

I wonder how common a severe crabbing is in the civilian industry.

I wonder how many rushed to thier luggage after landing for a fresh change of clothes. :sick:

[crosscountry]

I can't imagine being on that plane!

[Noclevername]

They probably had to replace a lot of soiled seat cushions after that was over.

[Donnie B.]

NBC News reported tonight that the (aborted) landing was so harrowing that Lufthanza is offering the passengers free psychological counseling.

[billslugg]

I guess there was probably some pilot error here. They must have known the magnitude of the cross winds.

I was on a 727 flight into Avoca, PA in the '80s and we went in so severe that I could look out the side window down the runway. He did not touch down but got his angle and speed right and then went around and did it for real. It was not a gusty situation just a real strong wind out of the west.

[Bearded One]

From the videos I saw the big problem was the strong gusts. Crosswind alone a good pilot should be able to handle, but the gusts were extreme. A gust seemed to be what caused the wingtip to brush the ground, you can see another send it into a wobble right before the landing (attempt) itself.

I think they should aborted it much sooner, especially with a large passenger jet.

[Argos]

You can see several of them on YouTube. I think the pilot shouldn´t have tried to land considering the conditions. It was already in a 'crabbing' attitude well before touch down.

[Laguna]

They had to land. They came from Munich and all other Airports in Germany had the same weather. Strong Storm (Wind speeds of around 120-140km/h) with gusts of over 200km/h. Toppled some trees in my neighborhood too.
They had the bad luck to catch a gust at the wrong time.
They made a turn and landed safely without problems.

Nice pic:
http://www.airliners.net/uf/536882887/middle/phpOltUWB.jpg

[Larry Jacks]

They probably had to replace a lot of soiled seat cushions after that was over.

I'd love to hear the cockpit voice recorder tape for that landing. No doubt there were some colorful terms being spoken with great enthusiasm.

[Laguna]

Airline spokesman Wolfgang Weber said the plane was rocked by wind clocked at 250 kph (155 mph) as it tried to land.
By the way. According to meteomedia the maximum peak windspeed was 222km/h, measured on top of the Wendelstein (Alps).

[schlaugh]

Looks like the pilot may have tried to straighten out just a bit too soon and got slammed by a gust.

If the right wheels had been on the ground with the right wing still lowered I wonder if the gust might have actually helped to pushed the entire plane down onto the runway. Would have been a hard landing...

Go to this site for more videos of large jets landing in strong crosswinds - and sometimes not.

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/aviation_videos.htm#Videos

ETA: This link is specific to hard crosswinds:
http://www.alexisparkinn.com/photogallery/Videos/2006-Wild-A321_landing.wmv

[Donnie B.]

Here are some shots of the wing damage... not really as bad as I expected.

http://www.vkmag.com/galleries/gallery_lufthansa_a320_raakte_de_grond/

[Trebuchet]

Here are some shots of the wing damage... not really as bad as I expected.

http://www.vkmag.com/galleries/gallery_lufthansa_a320_raakte_de_grond/

Access blocked by my company due to inappropriate content! Wouldn't want to see any damaged airplanes in my line of work!

[Jay200MPH]

Yikes! Wow.
I can't believe he brought the plane back up and circled around after scraping the wing like that! I'm impressed there's enough redundancy designed in the aerodynamics that they can be flown damaged like that.

I wonder if that airframe will see service again. Probably going to need a lot more extensive repairs than just the wing.

[Edit: whoops, I wrote that before I looked at the later damage pics. Doesn't look as bad as the 'action shot' made it seem. Still, stress from an impact like that would spread throughout the wing structure wouldn't it?]

- J

[Kadava]

[Edit: whoops, I wrote that before I looked at the later damage pics. Doesn't look as bad as the 'action shot' made it seem. Still, stress from an impact like that would spread throughout the wing structure wouldn't it?]

- J

After viewing the pictures, I was thinking the damage should be limited to the winglet itself. Probably a relatively simple replace/repair, but I'm sure the checks required afterwards will be extensive.

[Edit: Just read a news item that said that the plane was already back in service. Not sure if it's true or not.]

[AndreH]

I have listened to an interview with the Lufthansa Pilot in Chief and also a passenger of the flight.
Currently it is investigated if the Tower is (partially) responsible for the incident. It is said they designated the "wrong" runway for the landing. There would have been another one wich had to be preferred because of the wind direction.
Anyway, it was a really heavy strom over Germany that day. 6 people dead in several incidents and a lot of damages on houses. (My own roof lost some parts, which I cannot replace because yesterday, when it should be done the winter came back to my part of the country with 10 cm snow in 4 hours)

The funny thing about the interview with the passenger was, that he said during that first landing attempt he did not really realise how dangerous it was. Obviously the whole flight was very bumpy and not comfortable. The guy said he was really shocked AFTER he saw the video the first time.

[Donnie B.]

I have listened to an interview with the Lufthansa Pilot in Chief and also a passenger of the flight.
Currently it is investigated if the Tower is (partially) responsible for the incident. It is said they designated the "wrong" runway for the landing. There would have been another one wich had to be preferred because of the wind direction.
Did he say whether they landed on that other runway on the second attempt?

[AndreH]

Did he say whether they landed on that other runway on the second attempt?

No, and during lunch break I have heard the 24 year old Co-pilot was doing the landing and it would have been the first time for her in weather conditions like that.

I have to check out if that is true. As usually with these things it is always best to wit until everything is clarified.

[AndreH]

Did he say whether they landed on that other runway on the second attempt?

I checked: Yes the, the second (succesful) attempt was made on that other runway. Everything is still under investigation.

I could not confirm the gossip about the "rookie" Co-pilot doing the landing. Fact is only that there was a young co-pilot. So for this we have to wait and see.

On that day several flights had to abort landing, but none of them being so critical.

Also Lufhansa spokesman Thomas Jachnow says, that to his opinion the tower made no mistake. Tings like these may happen and are not predictable"