Hardest Approach and Landing You Ever Made?

[Si]

Just wondered if anyone could post some examples of the hardest approaches and landings you have ever made, i.e weather (crosswinds, fog,rain/snow), terrain, day/night, etc..... In any type of aircraft.

Thanks.

[Mr Magoo]

Asym NDB circle to land on my IR checkride with a CAAFU examiner sitting next to me!

[CaptainSquelch]

Coming home to Mrs Sq after three weeks enroute with ......

ah you don't want to know

Sq

[fireflybob]

One that comes to mind is landing at Heraklion at night with thunderstorms in the vicinity!

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[greg1]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">One that comes to mind is landing at Heraklion at night with thunderstorms in the vicinity!</font>

Thunderstorms? As one OAL cpt commented, on a clear day/night you might still need your wipers going to clear the sea water spray, when coming in for 27 with the usual side winds gusting from the north... http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/cool.gif

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(Th)ink Rate! Don't (Th)ink! Don't (Th)ink!

[Ellion]

Anybody been into Wellington 16 on a dark dirty night with wind blowing 220to330 16kts gusting 68kts?

Most of the boys in NZ treat this as 'all in a days work!' Thanks for getting us in safe lads!

My hat off to you guys. I was down there on my holidays recently, lovely country, huge terrain, and extreme weather. I'm glad I didn't have to operate.

[MaximumPete]

Funchal in a B707 before they lengthened it was somewhat interesting.

Lasham also had it's moments in a B707

MP

[Oldgrayfox]

How about a nice little night Corfu when the whole island is on fire!

Thanks to the high ground the lower minima are based on the KRK Vor which means the final approach is offset by 30 degrees. By the time you reach MDA it's time to turn towards the high(er) ground before lining up for a shortish runway. Tried it last summer, and just squeezed in. Vis was just on limits and definitely worse than the tower were giving. A thick plume rolled onto the airfield just as we rolled to a stop. Made us the last aircraft in for three hours! Still recovering.....

[Speedbird252]

Coming into Goodwoods RW24, late afternoon, sun in my eyes in a PA28. Nothing much about that you ask..., but somehow a wasp got into the cockpit and wanted to be P1. Finally ended up gracing the back of my checklist. Must have looked good from the tower....

You just dont need it at 700ft, do ya?

[Speedbird252]

Maximum Pete, what is like to fly into Lasham? I was there yesterday watching them winch up the gliders. There are always 737`s etc parked up, and It looks like a bit of a scary run in?

Probably different from the air, but the tarmac does look rather short.....

Regards.

[fly4fud]

Remember one rainy and windy (30 cross) night circling in GEN, 1000' above the white water and base towards the terrain...

Another one, SJJ rwy 12, wind 170/55 gusting 62, windshear at D4, full rudder and about 30 deg opposite ailerons, great landing...

And another one, Lothard hurricane, ZRH, 45 kts xwind on rwy 28, everybody was happy to be on the ground, but it was good fun :)

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... cut my wings and I'll die ...

[F/O Junior]

Reminds me of this girl in a bar. Light's were low and flickering, one could only see shades. I decided it was wiser not to shoot a direct approach, but to make a low pass first. I started to sweat as visibility dropped when some fog appeared. When turning onto final, one could perceive that the runway was blocked and safest thing was a go around and a diversion to refuel ...

[DeltaTango]

Last September, in a C-172,approaching LLJR with black smoke comming up into the final from a bunch of rioters at the approach end of the runway burning tires....
They had begun throwing stones ...sorry-ROCKS-at the runway, so the tower advised a long landing.
Luckily the RWY is a long one, but I had to come rather high until I passed the rioters and then do some hairrising side slipping.

The army army as I taxied to the stand and closed the airport.

As far as I know, I'm the last one to land there since....


DT

[I. M. Esperto]

A dark and stormy night trying to find the WASP, then catch #3 wire.

Next was going into Hong Kong in the late 1960's with a B-707.

[Capt. Horatio Slappy !!]

Was a 2 week First Officer on the Jetstream 3100 landing in St louis at night.
St Louis has 2 main runways and 3 smaller ones, the 2 main ones are 30L and 30R and they parallel runway 31, one of the smaller runways, ( 12L and 12R paralleling 13 depending how you look at it )
They have runway 24/6 which crosses the threshold of both the 12's and another real small one 17/35 for GA traffic or parking the President's 74.
Runway 31/13 is normally used as a taxiway, anyhow we were asked if we could accept runway 6 hold short of 12L, which , according to the performance we could, although pretty short, it was my leg and I thought I should slow it up some with the result that I was sitting at ref+5 at 500 ft and ref -5 at around 200 and a little behind the curve when, while in the flare, I saw some crossing lights not 2000 ft away and thinking that was the crossing runway, chopped the power and heaved like an ape, being **** hot I kept my feet off the brakes and with whistles, bells and shakers, hammered the old girl onto the pavement, after the maxarets had had a chance to spin up I stood on the brakes with much shouting from the cabin and came to a shuddering stop about 1000 ft short of what turned out to be runway 13, the one they use as the taxiway, I still had almost 6000 ft of useable pavement left !!!
I look at the Captain, he looks at me, brakes into a grin and sez: " Shortest Gawdamn landing I ever saw!! You do that to impress all your I.O.E Captains?"
And with red ears we taxid in.
After examining the plate it turned out we used about 2000 ft of runway!!! What an Eeejit !!

[Girt_bar]

Ellion

That 16 approach into WN is infamous here in NZ. There is a great website that has a downloadable video with footage of some VERY hairy landings.

[fly4fud]

and the address is???

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... cut my wings and I'll die ...

[babble]

Landing at SPL 25 Jan 1990. Last reported surface wind 240 deg 70 kts.

[airag]

Landing AT 502 with quartering 20kt on 700m by 5m in rain ,oh and a full can (2000kg).

[Girt_bar]

fly4fud

Can't find the b#%%dy thing

[Girt_bar]

I lie. Just found it.


http://airside.paradise.net.nz/

Got to "Scene librarys"
It is a failry new site so a lot of it is still under construction.

[This message has been edited by Girt_bar (edited 15 May 2001).]

[fly4fud]

Thanks Girt_bar, nice one!

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... cut my wings and I'll die ...

[Golf-Kilo Victor]

The first one i did on my own....

[PA38]

On my solo x-country into Welshpool EGCW, with a strong x-wind and moss, yes bloody moss covering the 18 mtr wide runway, folowing one of their floodings...and in a PA38.
I still smile when I think of it.... :)

[ACARS]

Not very exciting really, but it was the 1st time my wife was in a C172 with me. It was early on in my PPL. My instructor had to take over at the last minute due to me almost completly screwing it up.....

[NoseGear]

The night approach is poor viz, low cloud and a strong northerly wind at Whangarei in New Zealand, 70nm north of Auckland. The initial approach is a descent on track to the NDB, then a 20degree right turn onto final approach which brings you to the airfield at right angles to the runway!! If you are lucky enough to break visual before 3 miles, follow the lead in lights, placed at about 45degrees either side of you at this point, around the harbour to lead you in to finals. Quite effective if you know the advisory heights for each light you cross over, provided you can see them in the poor viz. There is a night circling procedure in which you track to the airfield and execute a 270 degree left or right turn onto a downwind leg to follow lead in lights placed strategically in the harbour, which lead you onto short finals. Good idea to follow the lead in lights, as there are hills upto about 1500 feet on all three sides of the runway. Missed approach is a climbing left turn, 180 degrees back to the NDB. Certainly gets your full and complete attention on a dark and sh*tty night!!

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To an F16 with engine trouble, "You're number 2 behind the B52 with one engine shut down." Reply "Oh no, not the dreaded 7 engine approach!"

[Iz]

First one of the pack at rush hour at Phoenix Skyharbor (KPHX) with some severe thunderstorms around. Made an approach on 26L but got a bad windshear on final, go around, circle to the other side and dropped it in on 08R with a bad crosswind from the left and a cell on the field, you could see the sand blowing straight over the runway from left to right, at night! Yummy. We were the first ones to land and the ground crew thought we crashed (since the runway was a little lower than the ramp and we disappeared out of sight after touchdown). We ended up sitting on the platform for 20 minutes with doors closed as thunderstorms raged over the field.

[DeltaTango]

IZ-that reminds me of a 727 trying(and succeding on the 3rd try) to land at SFB in a hurricane a couple of years back.
from the site of it-all the pax were seeing ground-sky-ground-sky-BRRRRRRRRR-shiver...
We were gla standing on the ground and not in THAT THING!!!!!

[Checkboard]

Hardest landing I ever made resulted in the landing light cover on the tip tank parting company with the airframe! http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/redface.gif