Dicey crosswind landings 09/27 Melbourne
 

With current strong northerlies at Tullamarine and the north-south runway being out of service, it is a good bet that ATC have enjoyed watching the crosswind crash landings on 09/27.

Talked to pilot passenger on an Air New Zealand 747 that was down the back when that aircraft did an assault crosswind landing and he said it was scary. What are the views from ATC in the tower at Tulla? There must be a few Pprune readers up in its lofty heights?

Maybe this was a bit dicey..
Plane catches fire on landing
April 09, 2005
THE wheels of a 747 freighter caught fire as it landed in Melbourne this afternoon.

A spokesman for Air Services Australia said firecrews rushed to the scene after the pilot of the Atlas Cargo aircraft sounded an alarm about 4pm (AEST).

As the plane was touching down in Melbourne, the pilot could see warning signs that the brakes, which are in the wheels of the 747-400, were overheating.

The aircraft was escorted back to the freight apron by three fire trucks and caught fire when it stopped, the spokesman said.

He said fire crews were keen to move the plane to the apron, fearing it would otherwise block the only runway in use now that work is underway at the airport to accommodate the new Airbus.

The spokesman said there were no injuries to the crew on board and the fire was put out easily.

“It was a routine response, it's not uncommon,” he said

Those bloody ATCs shutting the other runway for works then making the wind blow!!!! How dare they!!!

Bloggs, I said...KICK IT STRAIGHT!

As opposed to the 747-300 where they are in the overhead locker!:rolleyes:

What is an assault crosswind landing ?
Why was it scary ?

Bloggs,

I dont think its Boeing procedure to 'kick it straight', maybe some 74 jocks can clarify that.

However, well said.

Assault crosswind? They sound like weasel words Menen. But I know what you mean!!

Not super-important to kick them staight but it helps smooth out the touchdown.
FWIW the auto-land does not de-crab for landing, and the limit is 23 kts for that.
So in theory you could land with a 23 kt crosswind and not bother with the rudder much. It'd be pretty rough though!
I kick it straight about halfway through the flare.

Pretty p!ss poor brakes if they over heat whilst touching down. :rolleyes:

Yeah, but they were going for an exit on Alpha!

overheated brakes, and firetrucks chasing airline aircraft down the strip is not so uncommon here. That's why we G.A.types have to pay for fire crew we do not need or want.

I happened to be at the holding point and witnessed the landing of the 747 freighter (Atlas with an Air NZ callsign). It was a typical Rwy 27 landing in that he got caught out just like everyone else has on 27 (including me).

The problem with 27 is that it is downsloping runway with the threshold shielded from strong northerlies by hills to the north. Usually the approach looks fine down to around 100 feet or so, then you get a slight overshoot shear approaching the flare causing your aim point to drift down the runway, then you do a 'normal' subconscience flare - but the runway is falling away from you and there you go floating down the runway losing air speed. About that time you enter 'clean' air from the north and you start drifting towards the southern edge of the runway. Suddenly the far end of the runway is not that far away at all and you are approaching your last touchdown point. So you lower the nose to get the aircraft on the runway - that combined with bleeding airspeed and sideways drift makes for an undignified landing and smartarse comments from F/As and pax.

Thats exactly what happened to the freighter yesterday. He touched down hard approaching taxiway A with considerable sideways drift. The landing generates heaps of smoke (we thought he had blown some tyres at first) and he used every last foot of the runway pulling up (presumably with max braking). I'm not surprised that he developed some brake fires.

Good God are you seri.... Ha ha, just checked the username.

Dropped into MEL Rwy 27 the other morning from Tokyo.

At 500 ft the X wind was 38 knots, decreasing from 32 kts at 200 ft to 23 kts at touchdown.(add a few seconds lag for the IRS/GPS).
Makes the last few hundred feet hard in terms of coordination as well as concentration, especially after a 10 hour flight or thereabouts.

Anyone can get caught out, and that can apply to one and all.

Worm burning
 

Dicey xwind landings are not as spectacular as the heavys using every inch of 27 on dep. No grass left in the 09 undershoot and all worms have packed up for the box forrest.

Go arounds are a plenty for now.

Would be really good for all if you made the rapid or keep the speed up till the end on 27 or 09. Let us know what your plan is in the peek times re your exit.

Seen some hairy exits on (highspeed exit) alpha, landing 09. Don't expect anything quick on 09 ops re deps. Bring a cut lunch!. We can't turn anything until about 4-5 miles.

Tip of the Day. On 09, For all Props going west, tell the tower you can make a early hard left turn (inside the cgb noise abatement area), off the deck, and dep from November. In visual conditions of course...........

:ok:

Assault landing is a military term for a very firm touchdown with no flare and short ground run. This mimimises exposure time to enemy action.

Oh, you mean a carrier landing :rolleyes: ;)

John E. Dead right. Although I assaulted the runway at Nowra on my first landing in a Sea Fury - inadvertently.

Whats the carrier pilot's favourite saying?

"If you flare to land, then you squat to pee"

:D
TL