The “hair-raising” moment an Emirates pilot was forced to abandon a landing in high winds has been captured on video.
The dramatic footage, recorded by an amateur aviation enthusiast, shows the Boeing 777 being caught in a crosswind as it arrived in to Newcastle airport from Dubai. The pilot touches down, only to take off again after the plane appears unstable on the runway.
It was landed successfully on the second attempt. The incident, last Thursday, was caught on camera as the UK was hit with high winds and heavy rain in ‘storm Diana’.
"The wind had been gusting at around 25 [28miles per hour] to 31kts [knotts] this Thursday morning,” said Jonathan Winton, who filmed the dramatic landing.
"Having established on the approach for Runway 25 and been cleared to land by the controller, it looked like a normal approach in the challenging crosswinds from the south.
"As the 777 disappeared behind the hedge before touching down, it slammed down onto Runway 25, the spoilers deployed, and the next thing full power was applied for a go-around.
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"I've never seen anything like it here at Newcastle Airport. The aircraft then came in for a second approach and landed safely.
“I'm a huge aviation fan so for me it was incredible to watch, but for those with a fear of flying it must have been pretty hair-raising."
There was no damage to the plane, which made its return journey to Dubai later that day.
An Emirates spokesman said: 'We can confirm that flight EK35 from Dubai (DXB) to Newcastle (NCL) on 29 November, performed a standard go-around due to high winds on approach, before landing safely at 11.25am.
'After an engineering inspection of the aircraft, it was cleared for departure. The safety of our passengers and crew is of utmost importance and will not be compromised.”
Many airlines had trouble landing that day.
