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Old 31st Oct 2017, 16:36
  #45 (permalink)  
ethicalconundrum
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Republic of Texas
Posts: 125
Received 6 Likes on 5 Posts
Having been encouraged to post in other than Jet Blast, I will opine here on this after doing a little (not a lot) of research composed of watching the three vids avail, and gathering the weather for the location at the time. Being a high time private/comm pilot, with a flight history in windy areas like N TX, and eastern CO, this is my take.

Based on the underside look of those clouds, along with the clear evidence in the background of the vid, there is moist unstable air in the area at the time of the appr. Combine this with the reported wind of 270@26G46 also indicates that the wind conditions were quite dramatic when the gust is 20 up from the sustained, and the sustained is rather high as well.

Having flown much of my time in TW aircraft(yes, I know - has nothing to do with airliners) we have been taught the cross-controlled appr with upwind wing low, and opposite rudder. Airline operators apparently either HATE this method, or they are untrained, or the company doesn't allow it because it tilts the SLF in an awkward way, hanging as they would be from the side of their belts. Understandable. In my little cloth plane, in these conditions, I would have been fully cross controlled, and trying to touch the right main and stick it on. More than likely after having stuck said right tire to the ground I would realize the folly of winding up in the grass, or a ditch, and power my way out of there and go somewhere else.

Airliner? The kick-out method is accepted process, and damn the side-loading of the gear. Can it be done cleanly with min side loading? Sure, in fairly smooth sustained wind. But in conditions with G46? Oh he-ull no. In Brit-speak I would say this would be a rather 'sporting' attempt. No fault, no foul, no issue with what I see here having the guys in the pointy end getting out of Dodge(Americanism from the old west) nee Salzburg and heading somewhere else.

The meatsacks all walked off the plane, the plane apparently can be used again, and if there is an inquiry, and I were in the pointy end I would simply say that conditions were beyond SAFE margin when WE made our attempt, notwithstanding any previous, or later landings. It was a semi-unstabilized approach, leading to a unstabilized flare, leading to an unstabilized touchdown, and we performed a textbook go around. Have a nice day. Skin, tin, ticket all secured, sadly the cabin creatures had to make other arrangements, but somedays one is the bug, and somedays one is the windscreen.
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