Airbus slides into a wild crosswinds landing
Your stomach might have flipped if you were on board an Airbus A380 that boldly braved an extreme landing in Germany over the weekend.
Mother Nature is a powerful force, but a storm in Germany over the weekend didn't stop a huge Airbus A380 from making a safe touchdown in Dusseldorf.
A blustery crosswind pushed the plane around in dramatic fashion, making for a simultaneously scary and fascinating video of the landing.
The video, posted Saturday on YouTube, comes from flight fan Cargospotter who wrote, "I have filmed lots of crosswind landings within the past four years but this was the first time I was able to film an A380 crosswind landing. All crosswind landings are amazing but seeing an A380 fighting against the wind was something special."
The Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger airliner, is a monster. It is about 236 feet (72 meters) long and sports a maximum take-off weight of 1.27 million pounds (575 tonnes). It holds 853 passengers.
Cargospotter notes that the runway was damp and that it seemed like the plane touched down a bit late, which may have contributed to the drama of the video.
There's a whole fascinating genre of plane-related YouTube videos showing unusual landings and aircraft battling funky weather. You don't need a Hollywood filmmaker to get your heart pumping over a plane landing sideways in a strong wind. Manufacturers even get in on the action. This Boeing video, for example, shows off the 787 Dreamliner's crazy vertical takeoff skills.
(Via Jalopnik)