I’m probably going to regret asking this - I’m flying cross-country in a week and a half and, as I said, am a nervous flier to begin with - but what’s windshear? The dummy ‘this person only has a very basic grasp of aerodynamics’ version, preferably.
My sister’s reaction when I emailed her the link: “Awesome.” Our parents swear that we are indeed related, but sometimes I wonder…
There’s a quote in the story that “some people were near tears”. NEAR tears??! I would have been a hysterical mess.
The Dummies version is this: it’s an atmospheric condition that causes sudden, localized shifts in wind direction. When a plane is taking off or landing they are at lower speeds and are more vulnerable to a sudden downdraft or crosswind. If it happens at 30,000 feet and you lose 500 feet of altitude, you may never even notice. if it happens while landing and the pilot ham-fists the controls, well, you know the rest.
Fortunately for you, pilots are so thoroughly trained that it is almost never an issue.
Quoting from the article linked in the OP
I will also add that recent decades have seen the deployment of low-level windshear detectors at many, if not most, large airports. It’s the low-level variety that is most worrisome, and these detectors are intended to alert pilots to near ground level windshear in time to avoid hitting it full on. It’s not follproof, but it is extremely useful in preventing unpleasantness and soiled trousers.
I´m guessing the article writer pulled that one out of his rear end.
“The plane was almost knocked out of the sky by the weather?, must have been windshear”
I think the term was used as a buzz word.
That doesn´t mean mean that a downdraft or windshear could have caused the plane to do that, but I consider the possibility highly unlikely; specially at the very instant that the plane maneouvered into a position relative to the wind vector that would roll it like it did if the pilot doesn´t counteract the motion in time.
If you´re flying a plane head on against the wind, and then make a turn, the wind will make the winward wing to rise, and the slower you´re flying the more pronounced it will be.
Ah, got it. I’ll add that to my list of “Things to worry about when I fly but not too much.”
I’m inclined to agree with Ale. It looks to me like the pilot simply forgot to put some right slip in after taking the crab out.
It was definitely a tough approach–you can see how the guy is jockeying the plane on short final and over the runway. It’s not just the wind, but the gusting that makes it difficult. Hard to out-guess that phenomenon, especially at ten feet and 150 knots.
There’s a 1940’s design called the Ercoupe that has to be landed crabbed as well - the rudders are linked to the ailerons (there are no pedals) so it cannot be cross-controlled (or spun, or even stalled because of limited elevator movement). The gear is just strong enough to take the side loads while it straightens out on the runway.
But the normal method of landing an airliner with wing-mounted engines is to crab all the way into the flare and straighten out while settling. The retired DC-10 captain I often fly with does that even in his light single, and he even gets mildly ticked off with me whenever I land his plane one wheel at a time. A kickout flare keeps the plane (and the passengers) level throughout the process, but it’s one more movement to coordinate at the most critical time, which is why students are taught to sideslip crosswind landings.
broomstick, I don’t necessarily disagree with you, since it is a judgment call after all, and she (the female FO was flying) probably didn’t know she’d hit anything anyway, and the approach never did look stabilized at that. I’ve gone around after touching down both mains in a high crosswind myself, but not with damage. As a general rule, though, I’ve always been told (and believe myself) that the risks of going around and fucking up again, perhaps worse, and with an airplane with an unknown amount of damage, have to greatly exceed the risks of just grinding to a halt on the ground.