Plane scrapes wing during landing in Germany

[CGowen]

Source: CNN

Battling blustery weather, a Lufthansa Airlines flight scraped its wing on the ground during a landing attempt in Hamburg, Germany, over the weekend, an airline spokesman said Monday.

Internet footage of the Lufthansa flight as it comes into land at Hamburg, Germany.

The plane recovered and landed safely the second time around, the spokesman said.

Amateur video of the incident that appeared on the Internet showed the Airbus A320 teetering as it tried to land during brutal winter storm on Saturday.

As it nears the tarmac, one wing visible scrapes the ground.

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Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/03/germany.plane/#cnnSTCText

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http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ddb_1204404185

[Wickerman]

1. I saw that this AM on some news channel

Looked scary as hell, I was amazed they got it back up to bring it around to try it again. Amazing flying.

[guitar man]

2. damn

really rough crosswind conditons there....it's a good thing he was able to fly it out of the hole :wow:

[Squatch]

3. Does it actually "scrape" or just get really close and kick up some water.

Either way, it'd be scary as shit, but I would think that a composite wing contacting the ground would be heavily damaged.

Especially if the runway is lined with these:

[HereSince1628]

5. That's obviously the sort of thing for aviation experts to examine

As will be the performance of the aircraft during conditions that left the airport open to landing aircraft.

Superficially it looks like a few more degrees of rotation and it's a tragedy. Thankfully, the souls on board were exceedingly lucky.

[Cornus]

6. Just viewed the clip...

...on the ABC noon news out of NYC. Really scary...he said the edge of the wing actually clipped the ground and the plane had already been repaired and is back in service.

[CGowen]

8. pictures

?pic

?pic

[sabbat hunter]

4. Wow

that was scary, as the plane approaches you can see it getting pushed sideways and being turned by the winds. It was not approaching the tarmac head on, as the tail was "fishtailing" out.

Glad to know everyone is ok that was on that plane, but it should not have even tried the landing given the crosswinds it was in.

Why was that runway open and operation with the crosswinds that are that extreme that they were pushing the plane off the runway?

[cboy4]

10. Pilots don't approach the runway "head on" in a crosswind.

You allow the plane to land at an angle and then straighten out once the wheels touch with the help of the rudder.

Here's a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX3S5y_SooM

[sabbat hunter]

15. I understand that

but in this case the plane appeared to be pushed by the winds, as if the crosswinds were very high.

[DemoTex]

11. The Boeing 737 and MD-80 crosswind limitations are 30 knots, IIRC.

A 30 knot steady-state crosswind component landing is a bear, but it can be safely flown. Gusts are another thing. This Airbus A-320 looked like it was trying to negotiate a gusty crosswind way in excess of the stated limitation. Had I seen what that crew saw (ie, the runway out the side window rather than the front) at about 200-feet, I would have executed a go-around and would have: 1. requested a runway better aligned with the wind (if available), or 2. flown to a holding pattern and waited for the winds to abate, or 3. flown to my suitable alternate for a landing there.

I saw nothing in that A-320's landing attempt but extremely poor judgment. I hope both pilots are disciplined appropriately.

[FalconsRule]

16. While not a pilot,

I do have a few thousand hours as a USAF crewmember. IMHO, You are 100% correct in your assesment and judgements.

[Parche]

20. Exactly

I am flying my 717 'flight simulator' tonight, hopefully I wont have those heavy winds to deal with!!!

Juneau (JNU)-Anchorage (ANC)

[DemoTex]

21. Parch .. crank in some winds, just for fun.

Crank in a direct crosswind of 40 knots. Then crank in 25 gusting to 45 knots. Report back tomorrow. Can't get killed in a SIM!

[fshrink]

25. Agreed. This was apparently a steady crabbing

at way to wide an angle to begin with. They tried to align at the flare but a tad too early and the wind lifted the right wing. That was way to risky.

[minnesota_liberal]

23. Either fast-changing conditions OR bad ATC

It's fun to watch planes land while "crabbing" (flying sideways to some degree with respect to the ground) but the wind in this video had to be extremely gusty.

If conditions worsened quickly, air traffic controllers might not have caught on. Otherwise, they should have used a runway that allowed more of an into-the-wind approach, diverted planes to another airport or put planes in a holding pattern.

[liberal N proud]

7. I hope the pilot had clean underwear in his baggage

Can you imagine the passengers on the left side of the plane. Looking down the runway as you are coming in for a landing?

[CGowen]

12. Some will probably reconsider flying again n/t

[Endangered Specie]

18. Thats completely normal in any crosswind landing though...

granted it isn't usually that extreeme, but you have probably landed like this without knowing it if youve flown enough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RdxU-0W-RE

notice how most these pilots aborted at the first sign of trouble, before they touched runway.

[pfitz59]

22. Scary landings....

Two methods of crosswind landings:

1) Wing down/top rudder - keeps airplane aligned with runway on approach. Used by military pilots. Not used by civil aviation because it's unbalanced flight. (Passenger comfort.) Also no good for larger planes cause of wing scrape.

2) Crab approach. Nose turned into crosswind. Offers balanced flight, but requires expert rudder, braking and power coordination on touch down.

Of course, being a helo pilot I rarely had to consider crosswinds on most approaches and landings!

[cboy4]

9. Dang. Wicked CW.....that must have been a strong gust

after he applied rudder during the crab.

But awesome job maintaining control after the strike.

[AlCzervik]

13. oh goody, i'll flying on Lufthansa thiis month.

glad everyone is ok.

[minnesota_liberal]

24. Fear not

Lufthansa is a pretty decent airline. I wouldn't hesitate to fly with them.

[hedgehog]

14. Isn't this the second or third such incident recently at a German airport?

Kind of gives you a different attitude toward weather delays at O'Hare, Atlanata, Newark, Detroit etc.

[Endangered Specie]

19. Yup, Ive never gotten upset at a weather delay at an airport...

a few hours is certainly worth not eating tarmac.

[TCJ70]

17. Something close to that happened to a plane I was on once...

...while coming in to Chicago. We were tipped pretty far before it corrected and put the other wheel down. I remember just looking at the people with me and we all had the same look on our faces. Yikes.