by If you’re flying before Christmas, it could be a bumpy one. Hundreds of flights across Europe have been canceled amid Storm Pia, with airline KLM grounding more than 200 services alone, and British Airways halting 24 of its routes. The disruption is expected to last until at least 9pm on Thursday.
The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning on Wednesday, warning of winds of up to 80mph and heavy rain, which could affect airports in northern England, the Midlands, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam has warned that “a significant number of flights will be delayed or cancelled” on Thursday and Friday.
Landing or taking off in high winds is not pleasant as a passenger – but while we’re yelling, what about the captain and first officer in command of the aircraft? What processes do they have to follow to keep us safe – and do they go green on the gills too? From fuel burn calculations to the “adrenaline” of missed landings, here’s what’s going down the drain…
1. When landing, aim into the wind
First things first. Wonky “roadside” landings shouldn’t scare anyone. In fact, pilots are trained to do exactly this maneuver in strong winds.
Patrick Smith, US pilot and author of Cockpit Confidential explains that the correct landing technique is “slightly skewed alignment, with one set of tires hitting the ground before the other”.
British Airways First Senior Officer Mark Vanhoenacker agrees: “When a plane is landing in a crosswind, pilots tend to point the plane into the wind, a maneuver that ensures the plane’s path over the ground takes it straight to the runway,” he said. say. “This technique is effective but challenging.”
And that’s why it takes a little practice. BA trains its pilots to land in high winds every six months. Captain Dave Thomas, the airline’s technical head of flight and training, says the difficulty of landing in high winds depends on both wind speed and direction.
In an ideal world, the pilot wants to land in the wind and in the middle of the runway. If there is a slight crosswind, he says, they will approach the nose of the plane facing the wind. Just as the pilot applies the “flare” – designed to slow the rate of descent – he or she will bring the nose of the plane in line with the runway.
If this maneuver is done too soon, “the plane doesn’t land in the middle of the runway – or on the runway at all,” says Tomás. If the pilot is not satisfied with their first attempt, he or she will abort the landing and try again. In what is known as a “baulked landing”, the plane may even touch the runway first.
In the windiest conditions, a “wing strike” may occur – when you guessed it, a wing hits the runway while landing. It doesn’t happen often, although one notable incident occurred in 2008, when a Lufthansa A320 attempted to land at Hamburg Airport amid gusts of up to 47 knots (54 mph). The footage on YouTube is excruciating, but no one was hurt and the plane eventually touched down on another runway.
2. Watch out for ‘wind rot’
The phenomenon known as “wind shear” is also a risk. This is a sudden change in wind speed and/or direction, causing turbulence or a rapid increase or decrease in velocity. A complicated situation could see a pilot trying to land in a headwind that suddenly turns into an easterly wind. The result? Landing late and fast, and may go over the runway, say our experts.
According to Airbus, wind shear is the main cause of 4 percent of “approach and landing” accidents: a small fraction, but enough to avoid action. Captain Thomas says wind shear can cause a pilot to abort a landing as the aircraft approaches the runway: “The right thing to do is – turn on the power and get up and out that.”
3. If you can’t land, go around – and try again
If they are not happy with the landing conditions, pilots will choose to “go around” – basically abandoning the descent, re-ascending, and trying again.
“In storms this may be due to turbulence, wind shear or fluctuating wind conditions, reduced visibility in rain showers, or [if] the pilot is just unhappy with the position of the aircraft on the runway,” says a training captain who flies the Boeing 787 for a major UK airline, with 27 years of experience.
“The decision is made by one of the pilots operating at the controls, as they are the only ones who can assess the safety of the aircraft. The safety of our passengers and our aircraft is always our top priority.
The decision happens very quickly, a warning to our anonymous pilot. “It is unlikely that there will be any warning to the passengers. When the decision is made, one of the pilots calls ‘Go around’. The pilot flying the aircraft presses one of the ‘TO/GA’ (TakeOff / Go-Around) switches located behind the thrust levers. This generates a large, rapid increase in thrust, bringing the aircraft’s nose up in most cases, and generates a “fly up” instruction on the primary flight display to help the pilot take off from the ground.
“The passengers feel that the aircraft is rising rapidly and will be pushed back into their seats as the aircraft rapidly accelerates away from the ground. A go-around can occur after touchdown, or the aircraft may touch down during the go-around maneuver. In these situations it is always safer to continue the departure than to attempt a landing in dangerous conditions.”
The pilots then follow air traffic control instructions to line up the approaching aircraft streams for another landing attempt if appropriate, or divert to another airfield with better conditions. “The minutes right around are always busy as the crew assess the weather, fuel remaining, talk to air traffic control – so there could be a gap of a few minutes before they can talk to him the passengers, so please feel free. that we are ignoring you.”
As passengers settle into their seats, what’s the mood in the cockpit? “Circle flying always generates a physiological response in that you get an adrenaline rush, but every commercial pilot practices the maneuver hundreds of times in the simulator, and is checked by an examiner every six months,” says our captain training. “While flying is an exhilarating maneuver – [and] quite rare – the teams are highly trained to remain calm throughout.”
Do they ever get sick? “I don’t think I ever remember seeing a pilot on a motorcycle on the flight deck. Usually we’re concentrating too hard to have time to worry about things like that!”
4. Allow longer flight time
“Flying into a strong wind can take significantly longer flight time, [so] you have to calculate the fuel burn,” says commercial helicopter pilot Neil Conley, director of leading airlift consultancy Skytrail. “Normally, when you’re training, you don’t fly in winds stronger than 25 knots – but I did my Commercial license exam in 40+ knots. It was a terrible experience.”
As you might expect, controlling a helicopter in bad weather has its own challenges – and sometimes it’s impossible. “With high winds, trying to turn the helicopter while hovering can be very dangerous,” says Conley. “Since helicopters are not usually subject to runways, it is under the landing area. A lot more planning goes into taking off and landing when it’s windy.
“As with airplanes, helicopters want and need to take off and land according to the wind. If it’s very windy, taking off/landing downwind takes a lot of power and is sometimes impossible. In flight, however, it is less dangerous [it] It takes a lot more planning.”
5. Have a ‘plan B’ – and use the weather to your advantage
“Even the most novice pilots sometimes have to admit defeat and divert if the conditions are too bad,” says Jerry Dyer, founder of Big Jet TV, a YouTube channel that broadcasts runway action at Britain’s main airports – often nail-biting during storms. “These jets are filled with enough fuel to allow for all eventualities such as diversions. Sometimes it’s scary for the passenger, but he’s calm and under control beforehand.”
Airlines always have a plan B if the intended approach is not safe, or if the airport closes due to high winds. For example, flights intending to land at a London airport may be diverted to a British airport further north, or to an airport in western Europe.
And if you’re lucky, high winds might mean an earlier start to your vacation. Strong winds – and jet streams – can sometimes cut off flight time. BA’s flight almost broke the record in 2015 thanks to a direct – flying from New York to London in just five hours and 16 minutes when the journey time is usually almost seven hours.
Similarly, the Qantas service from London to Perth has reduced its journey times, at times, by taking advantage of the strong northerly winter winds, cutting time in the air from 17 hours and 20 minutes to closer to 16 .
