Abort Landing
I left Berlin yesterday for a short 55 minute hop to Munich before the
long trek to Tokyo. And I'm glad the guy sitting near me wasn't the
pilot on this trip, too. Check this out ...
We're coming in to Munich and it's getting bumpy. Nothing out of the ordinary, but it grows steadily worse the closer we get to the ground. We're bouncing and rolling left to right and sliding side to side. I tighten my seatbelt and look out at the beautiful landscape around Munich. It was a beautiful day, too. But back and forth and side to side we go the closer we get to the runway. Then, when concrete pavement is clearly visible -- I don't know, maybe at a hundred or so feet -- the plane starts making movements I've never felt. I realize intellectually that the aircraft can take far more than this, but I'm no test pilot and I'm not usually in planes being tested. So, this was starting to get stressful. And the ground kept getting closer, too. How is he going to put this thing on the ground like this? We were rolling so far each way that I was starting to think that a wing would clip the ground when we got close enough. When is he going to pull out?
Just as I had that very thought, we twisted a bit and then suddenly bounced to the left and the wing dipped. A lot. I now had a very nice view of the runway. Wow. Now I'm thinking about my insurance, and if my wife and kid have enough to get by because I'm going down in Munich at 200 mph. I have a bad back, so I braced myself for something far worse than a rough landing. Not that the bad back would have mattered much in an exploding fireball, but it's an instinctive reaction for us bad back types. Anyway, the passengers were dead quiet. One guy behind me to my left was clearly praying. I think the pilot just about had enough of this at this point. He hit the jets. They came up immediately. We stopped descending and held our position for just a fraction of a moment and then rapidly pulled out in a steep climb -- bobbing back and forth and side to side all the way along and finally leveling off about a minute later. Ok, so that was fun. Still alive and don't need the insurance this time around. And I was especially impressed with how powerfully and quickly the aircraft responded once the guy up front hit the gas. I usually think of these big planes as lumbering heaps, but they are quite quick and limber and after all.
So, now to the guy sitting across from me. As soon we pulled out of this situation with everyone holding their breath, this dude slammed his fist on the arm rest! He shouted something, too, but I couldn't make it out under the full thrust of the screaming engines. What, was he disappointed we didn't do a nice little cartwheel into the ground on this sunny Saturday morning in Germany? Would have been a nice show for the guys in the tower I bet. He appeared angry, too. So, angry, in fact, that the grabbed his iPod headphones and ripped them out of his ears. Now that's serious. I mean, really, when the iPod earphones go, you know someone is pissed. I couldn't figure this guy out. That plane was clearly entering a bad situation, and our pilot did the only responsible thing available to him -- he got us out of there. That's supposed to be a good thing. Right? I can only imagine how different my life would be right about now had my angry iPod passenger friend been the guy behind he wheel.
So, we circled around while the pilot explained that there was something (I couldn't hear through the thick German accent) occurring on the runway just as we were going to touch down. Whatever it was, I'm happy he decided it wasn't good. When we came in for the second time about 15 minutes later, it was still pretty bumpy but there was no yaw and the wings stayed pretty level. Despite the still obviously windy conditions, he stuck the landing perfectly. Everyone applauded. Everyone except the dork near me who apparently wanted us to tough it through the first time around. When we stopped, I smiled at him. He just glared back at me.
We're coming in to Munich and it's getting bumpy. Nothing out of the ordinary, but it grows steadily worse the closer we get to the ground. We're bouncing and rolling left to right and sliding side to side. I tighten my seatbelt and look out at the beautiful landscape around Munich. It was a beautiful day, too. But back and forth and side to side we go the closer we get to the runway. Then, when concrete pavement is clearly visible -- I don't know, maybe at a hundred or so feet -- the plane starts making movements I've never felt. I realize intellectually that the aircraft can take far more than this, but I'm no test pilot and I'm not usually in planes being tested. So, this was starting to get stressful. And the ground kept getting closer, too. How is he going to put this thing on the ground like this? We were rolling so far each way that I was starting to think that a wing would clip the ground when we got close enough. When is he going to pull out?
Just as I had that very thought, we twisted a bit and then suddenly bounced to the left and the wing dipped. A lot. I now had a very nice view of the runway. Wow. Now I'm thinking about my insurance, and if my wife and kid have enough to get by because I'm going down in Munich at 200 mph. I have a bad back, so I braced myself for something far worse than a rough landing. Not that the bad back would have mattered much in an exploding fireball, but it's an instinctive reaction for us bad back types. Anyway, the passengers were dead quiet. One guy behind me to my left was clearly praying. I think the pilot just about had enough of this at this point. He hit the jets. They came up immediately. We stopped descending and held our position for just a fraction of a moment and then rapidly pulled out in a steep climb -- bobbing back and forth and side to side all the way along and finally leveling off about a minute later. Ok, so that was fun. Still alive and don't need the insurance this time around. And I was especially impressed with how powerfully and quickly the aircraft responded once the guy up front hit the gas. I usually think of these big planes as lumbering heaps, but they are quite quick and limber and after all.
So, now to the guy sitting across from me. As soon we pulled out of this situation with everyone holding their breath, this dude slammed his fist on the arm rest! He shouted something, too, but I couldn't make it out under the full thrust of the screaming engines. What, was he disappointed we didn't do a nice little cartwheel into the ground on this sunny Saturday morning in Germany? Would have been a nice show for the guys in the tower I bet. He appeared angry, too. So, angry, in fact, that the grabbed his iPod headphones and ripped them out of his ears. Now that's serious. I mean, really, when the iPod earphones go, you know someone is pissed. I couldn't figure this guy out. That plane was clearly entering a bad situation, and our pilot did the only responsible thing available to him -- he got us out of there. That's supposed to be a good thing. Right? I can only imagine how different my life would be right about now had my angry iPod passenger friend been the guy behind he wheel.
So, we circled around while the pilot explained that there was something (I couldn't hear through the thick German accent) occurring on the runway just as we were going to touch down. Whatever it was, I'm happy he decided it wasn't good. When we came in for the second time about 15 minutes later, it was still pretty bumpy but there was no yaw and the wings stayed pretty level. Despite the still obviously windy conditions, he stuck the landing perfectly. Everyone applauded. Everyone except the dork near me who apparently wanted us to tough it through the first time around. When we stopped, I smiled at him. He just glared back at me.
Posted by Skrocki on March 05, 2007 at 07:26 AM JST #
I can relate. While flying into Kansas City on a twin-engine hopper flight from Chicago, I swear we were going to flip over from the cross wind. The plane was at such an angle that we landed on one wheel with the right wing roughly 18-24 inches off the ground. Thankfully, the pilot put on the brakes hard and got the other wheel down rather quickly.
I'm sure the fireball wouldn't have been nearly as spectacular as yours, but it was still would've been the last one I was in :)
Posted by John Clingan on March 05, 2007 at 10:16 AM JST #
On another note I have not been inside a commercial plane in ten years as of this year. I refuse to. There is no where that I need to be so badly that I will *ever* endure what I went through on a KLM flight to Holland back in '97. That's another story and this is your blog afterall :-)
I'll say a prayer for a cure for your back. As far as I can tell prayer is the only thing that can explain my health after three heart surguries and I'm moving along just great these days. Yep, I am going to put in a word for you for sure.
Dennis
Posted by Dennis Clarke on March 05, 2007 at 02:48 PM JST #