Watch: Plane battles strong winds to land at London Heathrow Airport


Soraya Ebrahimi
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Plane enthusiasts have caught on video the moment an A350 Cathay Pacific jet from Hong Kong to Heathrow struggled to land at the London airport at the weekend.

As thunderstorms and “unusual” winds of up to 72kph hit the capital on Saturday, the plane had a touch-and-go landing at the busy airport.

Strong winds sent the 230-tonne plane all over the runway as the pilot wrestled to land.

It eventually hit the tarmac on one tyre before bouncing on to the other.

The plane then unsteadily straightened up before taxiing to the airport gates.

Onlookers filming the landing for Big Jet TV described it as "a real battle between pilot and machine to get that thing straightened up with the rudder – pilot won it."

The world’s best airports for 2023, according to Skytrax - in pictures

  • 10. Madrid Airport rounds off the top 10. Unsplash
    10. Madrid Airport rounds off the top 10. Unsplash
  • 9. Narita International Airport near Tokyo is one of four Japanese airports in the world's top 20 ranking from Skytrax. AP
    9. Narita International Airport near Tokyo is one of four Japanese airports in the world's top 20 ranking from Skytrax. AP
  • 8. Switzerland's Zurich Airport ranks in the world's top 10. Photo: Zurich Airport
    8. Switzerland's Zurich Airport ranks in the world's top 10. Photo: Zurich Airport
  • 7. Munich International Airport in Bavaria, Germany. Corbis
    7. Munich International Airport in Bavaria, Germany. Corbis
  • 6. Turkey's Istanbul Airport opened in 2018 and was judged as the world's sixth best. Photo: Grimshaw
    6. Turkey's Istanbul Airport opened in 2018 and was judged as the world's sixth best. Photo: Grimshaw
  • 5. Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport came fifth globally and number one in Europe. AFP
    5. Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport came fifth globally and number one in Europe. AFP
  • 4. Incheon International in South Korea is the fourth best airport in the world. Getty Images
    4. Incheon International in South Korea is the fourth best airport in the world. Getty Images
  • 3. Haneda Airport in Tokyo ranked in third place. AFP
    3. Haneda Airport in Tokyo ranked in third place. AFP
  • 2. Qatar's Hamad International Airport in Doha slipped from the top spot to second place in 2023. EPA
    2. Qatar's Hamad International Airport in Doha slipped from the top spot to second place in 2023. EPA
  • 1. Singapore's Changi International Airport is the world's best airport in 2023, according to Skytrax. Photo: Changi Airport Group
    1. Singapore's Changi International Airport is the world's best airport in 2023, according to Skytrax. Photo: Changi Airport Group
The biog

Age: 23

Occupation: Founder of the Studio, formerly an analyst at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi

Education: Bachelor of science in industrial engineering

Favourite hobby: playing the piano

Favourite quote: "There is a key to every door and a dawn to every dark night"

Family: Married and with a daughter

The biog

Family: wife, four children, 11 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren

Reads: Newspapers, historical, religious books and biographies

Education: High school in Thatta, a city now in Pakistan

Regrets: Not completing college in Karachi when universities were shut down following protests by freedom fighters for the British to quit India 

 

Happiness: Work on creative ideas, you will also need ideals to make people happy

Stormy seas

Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.

We set sail on a giant ferry whose length dwarfs the dinghies migrants use by nearly a 100 times. Despite the windy rain lashing at the portholes, we arrive safely in Dover; grateful but acutely aware of the miserable conditions the people we’ve left behind are in and of the privilege of choice. 

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Power: 154bhp

Torque: 250Nm

Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option 

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EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS

Estijaba – 8001717 –  number to call to request coronavirus testing

Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111

Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre

Emirates airline – 600555555

Etihad Airways – 600555666

Ambulance – 998

Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries

Updated: July 17, 2023, 9:07 PM