You could always take 'Mr 4 Engine Glider Pilot's ' advice
Jon di Paolo
Sky News Online
Updated:16:44, Monday March 03, 2008
A plane carrying more than 100 passengers escaped disaster by a hair's breadth as it tried to touch down in gale-force winds.
The passenger jet attempts to landThe Lufthansa passenger jet was buffeted by powerful crosswinds as it attempted to land at Hamburg airport.
Video shot at the scene shows the Airbus A320 struggling to keep in line with the runway as it makes its approach.
Just as it is about to plant its wheels on the tarmac it rolls, scraping one of its wings along the ground, before aborting the landing and flying away.
The aircraft, which was carrying 131 passengers and five crew on a flight from Munich, circled the airport before touching down safely a second time.
Passengers were unhurt but "shaken up" and were given assistance by psychologically-trained staff at the airport, a Lufthansa spokesperson said.
The jet's wing was scraped but otherwise it was undamaged and is now back in service.
Eric Moody, a former British Airways Boeing 747 captain, said everyone on board had had a lucky escape.
He explained that standard procedure when landing in a crosswind is to line the plane up with the runway on approach, then use the rudder and aileron - a hinged control surface on the wing - to straighten up at the very last moment.
Mr Moody said it was a tremendously difficult skill which the pilot had not quite managed.
"It's not an easy thing to do," he told Sky News Online.
"You have to be so precise. You've got to steel your nerves to hold it there, and then in one movement kick the rudder, move the opposite aileron and plant it on the runway."
The airline's spokesman told Sky News Online the jet had been hit by a very strong gust of wind just as it was about to touch down.
He added the airline was "very pleased" with the pilots - saying they had coped well with an "extraordinary" situation.
Thirteen people died and severe damage was caused over the weekend as storms tore across central Europe, bringing torrential rain and winds of up to 125mph.
In January, 136 passengers escaped unhurt when a British Airways Boeing 777 crash-landed short of the runway at London's Heathrow Airport.