r/nextfuckinglevel 26d ago

Pilot averts disaster by aborting landing at the last moment during a cyclone

5.5k Upvotes

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3

u/Gamefart101 26d ago

Why did he need to abort though? Like his rear wheel touched down, if they were worried about wind speeds from the cyclone wouldn't taking off again be the bigger risk?

10

u/hogtiedcantalope 26d ago

They can wait 30 min a pattern for things to calm down or go to another airport

The danger is impacting the ground. As the plane slows it has less control but is still moving with speed, strong winds could flip it on its side and a wing could impact the runway

8

u/wally4185 26d ago

I don't think it touched. That's water being blasted off the runway from going full throttle on the engines.

1

u/uiucengineer 25d ago

They had already initiated the abort by that time. Merely touching the ground doesn’t mean it would have been safe to land.

The issue was a sudden change in wind causing a sudden reduction in lift. This is called performance-reducing wind shear.

-3

u/sunnychrono8 26d ago

The runway was flooded enough to make hydroplaning a possibility, probably.