DUBAI: This is one of those airplane rides that could make even the bravest passengers squirm with fear in their seats.
Plane spotter Martin Bogdan has posted on YouTube a terrifying video showing an Emirates Airbus A380 being caught in huge gusts of wind on final approach at Germany’s Dusseldorf airport after a flight from Dubai.
The world’s biggest passenger aircraft, which can seat more than 500, was seen violently jerking from side to side upon touching down the runway due to high winds caused by storm Xavier, before the pilot managed to bring it under control.
“I have filmed a few thousand crosswind landings at several airports in Europe within the past years, but this Airbus A380 crosswind landing was extremely hard and extraordinary. At first it looked like a pretty normal crosswind approach but after touchdown the pilots tried to align with the runway which looked pretty incredible,” Bogdan said in his comments for the video.
“I have never seen such a tremendous reaction of an airplane after a touchdown. You can see that the pilots tried to align with the runway by using the tail rudder and luckily it worked out.”
Emirates’ Flight EK55 video has gone viral, with 4.24 million views since it was first posted on October 5 in Bogdan’s YouTube channel Cargospotter, and continues to gather views.
“This video shows the incredible skills of the pilots. Even after an unexpected wind gust after touchdown they managed to re-align with the runway. Incredible job by the pilots,” Bogdan said.
An Emirates spokesperson said that Flight EK55 landed safely and at no point “was the safety of the passengers and crew on board compromised.”
Emirates is the largest A380 customer with 96 in its fleet, which the Dubai-based carrier has deployed for its 48 destinations including Dusseldorf. The Dubai carrier will welcome the delivery of its 100th A380 aircraft later this year.
