Scary Plane Landings: Video Of Dusseldorf Airport Landings By Martin Bogdan Goes Viral (VIDEO)

First Posted: 01/24/12 08:10 AM ET Updated: 01/24/12 01:02 PM ET

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A video by Martin Bogdan of airplane landings at Dusseldorf airport has gone viral, thanks to heavy crosswinds.

Bogdan filmed landings at the airport during particularly high winds. The end result is an interesting look at the mad skills of the pilots who land there.

The planes, from Emirates to Thomas Cook, approach the runway at odd angles to compensate for the high winds, which were gusting up to 55 knots on the day, Bogdan says.

Landing (and takeoff) is statistically riskier than other parts of the flight, 'Miracle on the Hudson' pilot Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger' told us over the summer, due to cloud height, wind and visibility, among other things. Now we see why.

Check out some of the nerve-racking landings below.

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KsBear2

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02:48 PM on 01/25/2012

I agree these were not "scary" landings that were made possible by "mad" skills. Crabbing is something that pilots have to do in cross-wind landings. Unfortunately, the airport in question does not have a cross-wind runway, so when winds are like this, the pilots have to put their skills to the test. Good piloting.

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JJL29

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09:18 AM on 01/25/2012

Not scary - standard cross-wind landings - normal part of pilot training. They all did a pretty good job under adverse conditions.

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sprice03

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07:39 AM on 01/25/2012

Note the lightning at 7:00. With thunderstorm activity in the vicinity of the airport, pilots must be prepared for wind shear (sudden change in wind direction or speed) as well as crosswinds.

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Mimbresguy

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06:52 AM on 01/25/2012

Most of the news items having to do with aviation are, if not outright incorrect, then misleading. This is very misleading. It actually shows the high level of training and great ability of airline pilots. Every one of the landingss shows the plane compensating for very gusting crosswinds by crabbing into the wind to stay aligned with the runway. Just before touchdown the pilot slips the plane to get straight with the runway. Exactly the correct procedure and what they are all trained to do. The piece should have been about what great pilots they all are...not about "scary" to poorly informed journalists and the general public. I would ride with any of those pilots!

Floyde Adams, Mimbres, NM, USA

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heythere123

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01:05 PM on 01/25/2012

"The end result is an interesting look at the mad skills of the pilots who land there."

How is this misleading?

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Av8ur

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04:18 PM on 01/24/2012

Just to let the readers understand while watching this video, the large airliners have landing gear that is able to turn while on approach to stay lined up with the runway on touchdown. That makes for a much smoother landing than those planes with fixed landing gear. High crosswind approaches are not abnormal for these pilots. Many hours are spent in training for these types of weather days.

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heythere123

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01:02 PM on 01/25/2012

That is wrong. The only notable plane to have variable landing gear is the B-52. All of the commercial airliners featured in this video have fixed landing gear. The main gear is designed to take a fair bit of side loads depending on the whether the pilot decrabs before or after touchdown.

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Av8ur

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04:39 PM on 01/25/2012

And I stand corrected. During my flying days, I discussed this with my instructor. It was explained to me that their landing gear was able to turn 2 to 3 deg. to compensate for crab style landings in high winds. I researched this question just now and found that you were correct, and I apologize for the misinformation. In reviewing the video here, it is a bit of an optical illusion however re: the landing gear position relative to the straight line of the runway on approach. It even appears that their gear is turned. Odd.

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