capmaster Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Just watched this awesome compilation of crosswind take-offs, landings and go-arounds after aborted landings at Birmingham Airport, West Midlands, UK (BHX). Viewing this, I remembered a heavy crosswind landing when I arrived at Calgary International Airport, Alberta, Canada (YYC), on Friday, the 13th of August, 1993 in the afternoon. Since I had traveled from UTC+1 to UTC-7, this happened to be the longest Friday, the 13th in my life up to now, lasting 32 hours in total... What has been the most memorable take-off or landing you experienced? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosemarie Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 I have only been on a plane once and was sound asleep thanks to Xanax! I am very afraid of flying. I am like the episode of The Simpsons where Marge is running up and down the aisle yelling "Let Me Off!". My husband, on the other hand, who is afraid of heights LOVED it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 I had a very frightening landing at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam in a heavy cross wind. Right wing tip dipped just as we were about to touch down. Came to within a foot of hitting the ground. They closed the airport after that landing. I've flown hundreds of times and that is the only time I've been frightened. I was a bit twitchy landing at Nice, the runway juts out into the sea and at 15 feet you're convinced your landing in the water. Only done that once, I suppose after that you know what to expect and there's no concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 I have nothing to complain about... One of uncles was fighter pilot, He died in a plane crash, in 1975. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 My most memorable flight experience was piloting the GoodYear blimp over Ft Lauderdale beach in about 1986. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 I flew into Westerly, RI in a Cessna 150 when the winds were 35 mph gusting 50. The thing lands at like 65 so it was like being in a clothes dryer going about 15 mph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Also flying in a private, single engined plane landing in Morristown, NJ back around 1982. Unbelievable crosswind. I was sitting in the cockpit with the pilot. Came in at a 45 deg. angle to the runway, and he put it right on the mark. I had a lot more respect for my boss as a pilot after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 I would have to say (without a doubt) being in a Cessna 182 that crashed in a soy bean field just after takeoff. It was a skydiving run out of Hunter Field, Sparta, Illinois, sometime in the mid-80's. Just after takeoff we experienced severe wind sheer that took the plane right back toward the ground. All the pilot said was "hold on boys, we're going in", but that pretty much said it all. We were not at a high enough altitude to get out (chutes would not have had time to open), so all we could do was ride it in. With a plane full of experienced skydivers and a very experienced pilot, all well trained trained in many emergency situations, it was really just a matter of following protocol, and actually pretty exciting. The pilot did an amazing job and was able put it down on it's belly in a soy bean field adjacent to the airport. The worst part was we then had to drag the plane out of the farmers field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 I had a very frightening landing at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam in a heavy cross wind. Right wing tip dipped just as we were about to touch down. Came to within a foot of hitting the ground. They closed the airport after that landing. I've flown hundreds of times and that is the only time I've been frightened. Strangely that's where I had my weird landing experience We were about to land, the wind was blowing plane so much the plane was almost side ways (yet still moving forward).. then instead of landing, at the last second the pilot decided to not land and power the engines back up and take off again... That was a tiny bit scary.. but I love flying even in bad weather :unsure: :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 An attempted landing at New York's Kennedy airport about 10 years ago during a storm. We were about to touch down and were being rocked about by crosswind. Just before touching down the pilot said over the loud speaker "hold on" and landing was aborted and we pulled up fast. We then went to land at DC's Dulles and landed on fumes. My most memorable take off was at SFO where the plane took off fine but the landing gear wouldn't retract so we had to dump fuel all over San Francisco (the pilot assured us that it all vaporized and would not harm anything) and then landed again. All sorts of emergency vehicles with lights flashing, foam on the runway etc. One guy totally freaked out and got up out his seat yelling and screaming. The flight attendants had to try to calm him down. I think he wanted a parachute or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 many years ago, Taking off in a brewing storm. As the plane was climbing it sounded like it was laboring really bad and just sounded wrong(I had flown tons of times by this stage of my life). Then as the laboring was happening the plane felt like it dropped a thousand feet in half a second. Many gasps were heard and lots stunned faces looking around. For the most part though everyone was quiet. Then after the drop,, it seemed to settle down, and the rest of the flight was fine. The older I get the more I hate flying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krock Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 I would have to say (without a doubt) being in a Cessna 182 that crashed in a soy bean field just after takeoff. It was a skydiving run out of Hunter Field, Sparta, Illinois, sometime in the mid-80's. Just after takeoff we experienced severe wind sheer that took the plane right back toward the ground. All the pilot said was "hold on boys, we're going in", but that pretty much said it all. We were not at a high enough altitude to get out (shoots would not have had time to open), so all we could do was ride it in. With a plane full of experienced skydivers and a very experienced pilot, all well trained trained in many emergency situations, it was really just a matter of following protocol, and actually pretty exciting. The pilot did an amazing job and was able put it down on it's belly in a soy bean field adjacent to the airport. The worst part was we then had to drag the plane out of the farmers field. My sister bought me light aircraft flight lessons for my 21st birthday but I'm waiting till the summer to take them. Thanks for reminding me of the danger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 My sister bought me light aircraft flight lessons for my 21st birthday but I'm waiting till the summer to take them. Thanks for reminding me of the danger Planes are ok.. they can glide... Its helicopters you gotta be careful of ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markini Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 In 1977 I took off in the evening during a rain storm from Chicago to Green bay. The plane was a 20 passenger dual prop commuter. Still remember the big duck painted on the tail. It was Mallard airlines. The take off was ok, but during the flight the plane felt like it was at a severe angle to the headwind and rain. The plane was on course but the head wind pushed it to a pretty severe angle in relative to a straight line. The props were straining and the plane was shivering a groaning. There were a lot of upset passengers, I admit I was scared. Ok here is the strangest part. We fought the rain and headwind all the way to Green Bay. The landing was ok, we taxied a way and then came to a complete stop and the left wing just folded down from the fuselage and sat on the run way. It didn't make any noise, apparently the wing joint suffered from fatigue and just gave up. So I am in a window seat on the damaged wing side looking down on a broken wing. Plane itself was level on the landing gear. I still shudder thinking about that flight. The story hit the national news for like 15 seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Planes are ok.. they can glide... Its helicopters you gotta be careful of ;) Google helicopter auto rotation. Safe as houses mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 My most memorable takeoff was not scary for me, but my wife wasn't thrilled about it. Our neighbor at the tiem was a flight instructor. We planned to take a 4 seater on a 50 mile trip across NJ to Atlantic City. He gave me a quick instruction on how to do it, then let me take off the plane! We flew for about 15 minutes then my wife got motion sickness so we had to turn back. He landed it (trickier than taking off or flying), but I'll never forget the experience of taking off and flying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted April 17, 2014 Author Share Posted April 17, 2014 Thank you very much for sharing your personal reports here. In 1977 I took off in the evening during a rain storm from Chicago to Green bay. The plane was a 20 passenger dual prop commuter. Still remember the big duck painted on the tail. It was Mallard airlines. The take off was ok, but during the flight the plane felt like it was at a severe angle to the headwind and rain. The plane was on course but the head wind pushed it to a pretty severe angle in relative to a straight line. The props were straining and the plane was shivering a groaning. There were a lot of upset passengers, I admit I was scared. Ok here is the strangest part. We fought the rain and headwind all the way to Green Bay. The landing was ok, we taxied a way and then came to a complete stop and the left wing just folded down from the fuselage and sat on the run way. It didn't make any noise, apparently the wing joint suffered from fatigue and just gave up. So I am in a window seat on the damaged wing side looking down on a broken wing. Plane itself was level on the landing gear. I still shudder thinking about that flight. The story hit the national news for like 15 seconds. This is what I call a near-death experience. Only thinking about makes me shudder. Obviously you had just the good luck it took. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
69tele Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Gibraltar airport is listed as one of the 10 most difficult to land at in the world in most lists. The runway is very short, the rock is very near, the air corridor very tight, very windy too, and we have tons of seagulls getting in the way too !! Check at 3:42 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOTuo1vdDkk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulee12! Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 3 days after Christmas, 2011... on our way to Afghanistan we hit a wind shear just before touchdown in Shannon, Ireland. Landed sideways and on one side. Left side tires were off the ground. I think we actually had a wingtip make contact with the ground... at least it felt that way. Spent the night sleeping in the airport while they made repairs to the plane. Shannon is known for the winds there. Hit a tree in a military helicopter back in the 80s... not a good thing! Hit a powerline in a helicopter. Had an engine compressor explode in flight on a 3 engine aircraft years ago. Lost all engines coming out of Phillipines on a DC 8 during the gorilla coup in 80s. Dropped 11000 feet becfore getting engine going again. I used to love flying. I now have a STRONG distaste for flying... and Valium is my "little friend" when I do have to fly! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Good ole Southwest. After a hard landing on them, you will probably hear the flight attendant announce "that wasn't the pilots fault. It wasn't even the weathers fault. It was the asphalt!" Only kind of scary moment for me was landing at Wilkes Barre/Scranton one time on a little Jetstream or Dash 8 aircraft. It was pretty windy and the runway is built on the side of a mountain. It was a little nerve wracking but in the end uneventful. But, I do remember back in the 1990s, there was an issue with Boeing 737 rudders. The plane could just do a complete roll in mid air. I believe United and US Air both had crashes blamed on this issue. Eventually all the planes were pulled offline to have the issue corrected, but in the meantime the pilots were trained on a procedure to recover if it would occur. I was working at BWI when we had a flight divert due to maintenance. It turned out this exact thing had happened in flight and the plane had rolled almost upside down! Luckily the female pilot kept calm and followed the procedure by not trying to fight the roll, but go with it until she regained control. Luckily also the plane had enough altitude. Anyway, I had to meet the flight when it pulled into the gate, and remember the white faces of all the passengers coming off that flight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 I've had a couple... One half-funny one was a flight into Charlotte, NC, with a friend who was a Marine aviation senior NCO. He got out of most flying, he told me on the flight in great detail, after having 3 birds drop with mechanical problems. He said I should worry about flying with him. I told him I wasn't, 'cuz he was here to talk about it and didn't even get damaged. Okay, so we're landing now, and as we get near the ground the pilot pours on the coal and we head up again. It seems another aircraft was crossing our runway. When we left the plane, you could just about see where my friend's thumbs had dug into the aluminum seatrests... Then there was the time we were over Lake Michgan and told the old rotary engine prop plane was icing and we'd only have one shot at landing 'cuz we couldn't go up once we headed down... Or landing at Seoul in a 747 on the edge of a typhoon and watching the wings flap. Or the military DC6 where the pilot was landing at DC and "hadda" have a bunch of us step forward to balance the plane for landing. Or flying on a Cessna 210 between thunderheads the just about touched the wingtips on either side. Or the shock of hitting a prior plane's tip vortex landing at Salt Lake when it seemed we'd been hit by AAA. Or... or... or... etc. I s'pose I shouldn't complain. I'm here. But those crosswind runways can be fun. Watched the starboard wingtip just miss the ground on takeoff from DFW once, too. Hmmm. But a friend was on a worn-out 707 headed from Miami to Paraguay and watched rivets pop into his lap while it struggled to climb... m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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