Unusual or unnerving take-off or landing experiences

The other landing that stands out for me was from my BMI Regional flight to Leeds Bradford in 2006 in an EMB145.
It was dark, wet and very windy.
The tail was swinging from side to side like nothing I had personally experienced before.
The nose was pitching up and down a lot too. The pilots were definitely working hard up front.
I could see we were crabbing as I look out of the window in the over wing exit I was sat at and could see that the leading edge of the right wing was now perfectly perpendicular to our direction of travel.
The touch down was rough but nothing unexpected; with the bad weather and the wild approach I didn’t expect anything else.
We “thumped” down onto the deck and decelerated very quickly. With no chair up close in front of me I had nothing to brace against and actually partially slid underneath my seat belt. I made a mental note that I should tighten it up even more next time.

That sounds pretty normal for LBA to be honest!

I really had anything unusual really, just the usual turbulence and a rejected takeoff at Oslo a couple of years ago. Nothing too exciting!

Paul

If you were below V1 you would have stopped on the runway, above V1 you would have taken the problem into the air. Simple. 🙂

But seriously, one of the limiting T/O speeds is Vmbe, Maximum Brake Energy Speed, this is always higher than or equal to V1, meaning that with just the wheel brakes the a/c can stop on the available runway or stopway. Of course, there are airfields/operations where the use of reversers is included in this calculation, but then you wouldn’t even have taxied out to the runway!

Flying without an operational thrust reverser is perfectly legal, as long as it is allowed by the Minimum Equipment List (MEL (Written by the airline and approved by the local authority)) or the Manufacturer’s MEL, whichever is the more limiting.

Thanks, very comprehensive reply.:)

what would have happened had we needed to reject the take-off?!

If you were below V1 you would have stopped on the runway, above V1 you would have taken the problem into the air. Simple. 🙂

But seriously, one of the limiting T/O speeds is Vmbe, Maximum Brake Energy Speed, this is always higher than or equal to V1, meaning that with just the wheel brakes the a/c can stop on the available runway or stopway. Of course, there are airfields/operations where the use of reversers is included in this calculation, but then you wouldn’t even have taxied out to the runway!

Flying without an operational thrust reverser is perfectly legal, as long as it is allowed by the Minimum Equipment List (MEL (Written by the airline and approved by the local authority)) or the Manufacturer’s MEL, whichever is the more limiting.

I work at OSL, we have two parallel runways, one of which has the E6 motorway running across the very end (through the end lights in fact). I was landing with BA in heavy fog, so heavy I couldn’t see the motorway right underneath us, or the runway in fact. The pilot aborted the landing and came around again claiming we were using the other runway instead. I could see from our second approach we were attempting to land on the same runway.

Like a previous poster said, some half baked prior knowledge makes it worse.

Nice!

We had a similar thread a couple of years back, so I’ll lift my example from that thread…..Back in the days when BMI were still good old British Midland, and were still profitably flying B733’s from Heathrow to Leeds, I was on the 420 on a particularly stormy windy night (both on departure from Heathrow and all the way up to Leeds). The Pilot, an Australian with a wicked sense of humour was making a number of light-hearted comments through the flight to calm our nerves (?).

He kindly advised that “the good news is the 45+ knots wind at Leeds has eased to around 30 knots, the bad news is it’s now blowing straight across the runway rather than down it”. “It’s going to be bumpy the whole way up so enjoy the Diamond Service bar – If I were back with you guys I’d be asking for a very large one!” Rather than the usual “Cabin Crew -10 Minutes to landing” message we got “10 minutes to splashdown ladies!”

After a very “lumpy” approach in the turbulence with much crabbing into the south westerly gale we made a firm, but under the circumstances, excellent landing. We slowed up, to great applause from the passengers, and the pilot comes back on the mic. “OK folks you can take your hands off your eyes – I know it’s safe to do so because my first officer has just done so!”

Many years ago I was travelling with Air 2000 on a 757 from Kefalonia to Gatwick. The plane arrived in Greece and then went tech. We boarded 8 hours late and there was this big puddle just below the engine with sand around it – didn’t exactly inspire confidence. Then just after takeoff there was this weird grinding sound which startled a few passengers, but was probably just some very noisy and unusual sounding flaps. Also the landing was rough as the pilot said he didn’t want to use any reverse thrust on that engine. It seemed a bit strange that we took-off if that was the case – what would have happened had we needed to reject the take-off?!

Also taking off from Copenhagen in a Fokker 50 with thunderclouds around wasn’t one of the best experiences I’ve had!

Proving that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, I recall being on an Aeroflot A310 departing LHR. Now even to an pro-aviation person such as myself, 10 years ago Aeroflot was not the best of propositions – I’d fly with anyone, but I’d be more apprehensive with some than with others.

So imagine then, I was slightly nervy when the thing started to take off with no flaps extended – from my view to the rear, the wing was completely clean. It was only later that I found that A310 take off config can be no-flaps (slats at the front of the wing apparently required, but flaps not necessarily). So, my “wisdom” and belief that take-off configuration on airliners involved partially extended flaps, I allowed myself to be concerned unnecessarily.

Andy

This happened to a friend (no, really!) one day going from Luton to Glasgow on EJ:

Two aborted take-off runs (one midway down the runway), then a go-around on arrival at Glasgow.

He takes the train now.

DS

I can remember quite an interesting landing at Palma-de-Mallorca airport aboard what was at the time a Britannia Airways flight. We were on finals and I was looking out of the window and saw the airport’s perimeter fence come into view, and then the tarmac of the runway, but we were still really high up and didnt actually touchdown for what seem like ages. Then, all of a sudden there was this huge drop and a massive ‘THUD’ as the Captain literally planted the aircraft on the runway!

Another quite interesting landing was earlier this year when travelling on Porter Airlines…coming into land at Toronto City Centre Airport (YTZ) is quite special because its on an island, so you have water at both ends of the runway. I was looking out of the window and remember saying in my head “Water, water, water…still water, ok, now we’re getting dangerously low, still water…!”, then breathed a sigh of relief as the runway suddenly came into view at the last minute. We then had to brake and turn left incredibly hard to avoid going off the end of the runway and into the water.

In reality though, I think we all tend to think the runway is shorter than it actually is when we are onboard an aircraft, anyone else agree?

Loganair BN2 Islander flying from Sumburgh to Unst in February.

The headwind was so strong that on approach we were barely moving forward.

…your headwind reminds me of the incident mentioned in ‘Winkle’ Brown’s autobiography (which also took place somewhere in the highlands and islands or thereabouts)…

He was taking off from a flat-top in a Swordfish and says the headwind was so strong he was 400 feet up before he’d progressed past the leading edge of the deck – the mind boggles!

Loganair BN2 Islander flying from Sumburgh to Unst in February.

The headwind was so strong that on approach we were barely moving forward. The turbulence was so bad that we were bouncing around all over the place. I cracked my head off the window while looking out. We were still 50 to 75 foot in the air as we went over the threshold when the pilot throttled back and stuck the nose downwards. The stall alarm sounded and the nose went down even further. It was put down with a whack like I have never felt before. We used only 30 or 40 foot of runway, even the pilot took a deep breath when we stopped.

LTN-LPL Easyjet, Christmas, late nineties.. we were sat in the plane on the taxiway for about an hour and a half prior to departure. There were nationwide storms that night and very fast gusting crosswinds promised at our destination. After an age the pilot came on and said there was a possible window opening up in the weather at LPL and that we were going to ‘give it a go’ – I’ll never forget those words – they were said with confidence but perhaps poorly chosen.

We took off in torrential rain and the whole flight was a cocktail shaker and a half – the worst I’ve experienced by a long stretch. We got to LPL and the pilot was really fighting it – crabbing in all the way over Runcorn, Halewood and down to a successful landing – the only time I’ve ever been in a plane where the entire cabin burst into spontaneous song – ‘the leaving of Liverpool’ 😀

I happened to be last off the plane that night and asked the Captain if it was a bad one from where he was sitting (he looked like a punch-drunken fighter). He just smiled and informed me he was back down to LTN in 1/2 an hour – hats off to him!

Waaaaaaaaaaay back in June 1994 I was on a Monarch Airlines 757 landing at Orlando International in Florida.
The approach was fine, if a little bumpy but unremarkable. The landing was a little…different.
We touched down quite smoothly, but as the nose began to lower, the left wing lifted up and the left MLG lifted from the runway; a lot of people began screaming.
A second later, the left wing dipped back down and the left MLG came down with a thump.
I do not recall getting an explanation from the crew.

Although not strictly a landing: I did have a hairy approach on a Continental Express Beech 1900D in 2004 while approaching Nassau.
We ran through a thick cloud and were given a good shaking. Then we dipped a few feet at which point I could see the master caution lights flash in the cockpit. (I was the only passenger and after expressing interest, the crew did not close the curtain). My eyes were in stalks.
We cleared that cloud only to have a bigger one in front. As we entered that, we shook again then dropped for what felt like 30 feet, in reality I guess it was probably only 5 feet, if that. Either way, I lifted up off my seat, despite a tightly secured seat belt. The master caution lights flashed again. I couldn’t take my eyes over the cockpit now.
The crew made a slight turn and what was in front of us? Yup, another cloud.
Through it we went. The airplane jolted pretty wildly, I again lifted from my seat as the planed seemed to fall again. This time, the master warning lights flashed. This had my heart beating in my throat.
Electronic gizmos in the centre panel blinked out. I saw the Captain reach up, flick a couple of switches and the warning lights went out. Moments later, the electronic gizmos came back to life.
Upon getting off the plane, I asked the crew what had happened, stating I knew a little about flying and was interested to know what the caution and warning lights were for.
The Captain explained that the No2 generator was playing up before finally failing, his reaching up was to turn it off and transfer the load to the No.1 generator.
I thanked the crew, grabbed my luggage and gingerly walked away.

The other landing that stands out for me was from my BMI Regional flight to Leeds Bradford in 2006 in an EMB145.
It was dark, wet and very windy.
The tail was swinging from side to side like nothing I had personally experienced before.
The nose was pitching up and down a lot too. The pilots were definitely working hard up front.
I could see we were crabbing as I look out of the window in the over wing exit I was sat at and could see that the leading edge of the right wing was now perfectly perpendicular to our direction of travel.
The touch down was rough but nothing unexpected; with the bad weather and the wild approach I didn’t expect anything else.
We “thumped” down onto the deck and decelerated very quickly. With no chair up close in front of me I had nothing to brace against and actually partially slid underneath my seat belt. I made a mental note that I should tighten it up even more next time.