Have a look at this to see just how close he came to losing it.

UPDATE: Here's a photo of the wingtip after they got it on the ground. Apparently the plane has been repaired and is back in service.

That is some scary stuff.

Nice find for the photo arvana!

Thank god the pilot was so well trained. That´s where those endless hours of simulation finally payed off. He saved 131 lives.

although they probably had to change out 131 seats.

Nearly crash? At least it still flew after the wing bounced off the runway!

Holy crap we just smashed the wing into the runway! Yes? Full power!

mad piloting skillz

aero*spacy

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OMFG that's nuts. INSANE. Definitely a video you don't want to show someone with a fear of flying.

What do you do after something like that? Divert to another airport? But wind like that is hardly a localized situation.

One airport I used to have to fly in for for work (Crescent City, CA), had the airport build during WWII *for* crosswind landings -- pilots would go up there and practice landing in the very reliable, very strong, crosswinds before getting qualified.

I tell you, it's not a fun experience to be rolling down the runway on one tire, with the wingtip a few feet off the ground... nearly every time.

>> ^rychan:
What do you do after something like that? Divert to another airport? But wind like that is hardly a localized situation.


Storm was all over central Europe on Saturday, so he really did not have a choice.

If the wind is steady it is usually not a problem I guess.
The problem in this case was the strong gust of wind right before he touched down. Hamburg tower reported that they had a few touch and go landings on saturday but they have never seen anything like this before.

Yeah the storm was over the whole of Europe. It should be possible to find a different approach though. On another runway that faces into the wind. That way you would avoid the crosswinds.

Didn't think this would make it (to the top 15)

That just goes to show those planes are sturdier than people give them credit for, and the engines, too. How do you say "oh shiiiit!" in German?

My brother is an airline pilot. This gives him nightmares haha but kudos to the pilot, that took immense skill and It's impressive he stayed focused and didn't lose his head

Bet a lot of people needed a change of pants after that. G'damn.

Un>> ^Zor:
That just goes to show those planes are sturdier than people give them credit for, and the engines, too.
Unfortunately, the Boeing 777 Wing Stress Test video is dead. That more than aptly demonstrated how flexible aircraft wings really are.

EPIC WIN(D)

Crazy... German News story about the incident
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,538926,00.html

Holy crap! That one had me yelling out loud: "Pull Up, PULL UP!"

It was actually a 24 y/o female co-pilot flying at that time. The 38 year old pilot could prevent the worst.
Its still unclear why the younger inexperienced pilot flew the plane at that time.

well, there's no training like on the job training.

Alright, now I don't want to fly ever again... even more than before.

Jerks.

*nochannel *wings *actionpack

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Just read some new info about this. Apparently the onboard computer switched into ground mode the second a set of wheels touched the ground. In this mode, a limit is put onto the amount of rudder the pilots can apply, thus reducing their ability to compensate for crosswinds. When the pilot pulled up, it switched back into the proper mode, thus allowing the pilot to hold her steady yet again.

No official info though.

"We're going down BALLS FIRST!"

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