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Old 7th Jul 2011, 21:20
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con-pilot

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Only a humble pax but with about 150 flights into and of Bermuda, many of which were very bumpy and a good few quite scary to peopel unused to the challenges Bermudas weather can throw at the crew of even large airliners.

1 Weather-very unpredictable at any time of year
2 Wind-topology meant runway was built virtually at right angles to prevailing winds - cross winds can be very severe
3 No alternate/diversion for 700 miles. TXKF has one runway and thats it-if you cannot land you go all the way back to where you started on the east coast
Well, while one should consider the above, I would in no way let it affect a trip to Bermuda. I have flown both airliners and business jets to Bermuda quite a few times, many more than I can remember actually.

Now, as for this;

2 Wind-topology meant runway was built virtually at right angles to prevailing winds - cross winds can be very severe
Not quite true. There are three runways, two are mostly unused, but can be used in an emergency. Never the less, I never encountered any limiting cross winds. The same can be said for the Azores Islands airports, where I have encountered very strong cross winds. In any case, a simple detailed weather briefing will handle any weather related problems.

Anyway, that has been my experience operating in and out of BDA.

Oh, I do need to add; on all my flights to BDA, I always had enough fuel to return to the mainland or continue on to the Azores. That is just plain good old fashion commonsense.
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