KL1033 Sunday 9 November
 

Just a word of thanks to the crew of KL1033 from AMS to LHR yesterday evening. The gusty winds at Heathrow meant that we had to go around after the first attempt at a landing. I was extremely impressed by the speed with which the crew kept us fully informed of what was happening and the possible implications. We landed second time around after a very bumpy approach and the crew fully deserved the round of applause they received.

For the record, the passengers were not terrified, screaming or whatever - just in case a journalist is reading.

I'm glad to hear everyone managed to keep their cool. But as a journalist I would have to say we hacks aren't always wrong nor do we always exaggerate. I've been on several flights where the 'lumpiness' of the approach caused people to scream - try LBA in gale force winds. People also screamed when an Embraer 145 my wife and I were travelling on was caught in the wake vortex of a larger aircraft in the final stages of the approach to MAN.

"Galeforce wind " still warrented an approach did it.......within limits of particular aircraft doing approach...... Vortex wake - so the 145 pilot told you that I suppose........

yep :ugh: a reporter - always a story.....

Yes he did actually. After he had contacted the cabin crew member sitting at the front of the aircraft to check everyone was OK he addressed the passengers on the intercom and clearly explained we had been caught in the wake vortex of a larger aircraft in front because air traffic control had not allowed sufficient separation between the two planes.
I can clearly remember we were over the sewage works in Stockport at the time. The aircraft rolled violently to one side, righted itself and then rolled violently to the other. The pilot immediately applied full power and climbed. If anyone had not been strapped in they would have been thrown across the aircraft.
This is a purely factual account of an incident which occurred at the start of a short visit to my parents in Lancashire. I was on holiday at the time and I did not file any copy about it with any media outlet.
I have experienced many bumpy approaches but in my previous post I used the term 'gale force winds' to apply to those when the conditions were described in these terms by the pilot.
On all these occasions we were warned of winds of approximately 50 miles per hour (gale force I'm sure you'll agree) with gusts up to 60MPH. It was the aircraft motion produced by these winds which led to a number of screams in the cabin.
One of the worst approaches I ever experienced was Manchester on Christmas Eve 1997. If you look at Wunderground you'll see gusts recorded of between 70 and 80 miles per hour that evening. Not particularly pleasant in an ATP.
Approaching Liverpool on December 24 1999 our flight had to circle for some time because - and I quote the pilot verbatim - 'the gale force winds are above the operating perameters of the aircraft' (easyJet 737). At one stage he said gusts were being recorded of more than 80MPH.
By the way, I wrote no articles about any of these incidents. Nor did I file any copy earlier this year when I saw a cabin crew member 'propelled' - I'll not use the word 'thrown' in case it's felt to be too sensationalist - from one door at the front of an A320 to the other by turbulence as she tried to sit down during the final approach to BFS at the end of a holiday flight from Palma.
My only recent aviation story was picked up on this website when I discovered passengers on a bmi flight to BFS from Palma had left their seats during the take off roll as they believed condensation from the air conditioning to be smoke.
Not wishing to sensationalise or exaggerate I asked the airline's press office for a factual account of the incident.
They denied all knowledge until a press officer at the CAA provided me with his organisation's official report on the matter.
Only at this stage did bmi agree to provide the necessary details.
In no way do I condone sensationalist or exaggerated reporting but at times obstacles are placed in the way of journalists trying to obtain accurate facts about matters already in the public domain.
I would also agree the reporting of some civil aviation incidents by the tabloid press and others has been way over the top.
On the other hand some press officers in civil aviation and other areas of life seem to regard it as their duty to trivialise incidents which the people involved have found stressful, traumatic and in many cases downright terrifying.

A non-sensationalist journalist... the mind boggles. You are a rare animal, especially in the climate in which a certain editor-in-chief attacks a High Court judge for laying down rules that require newspapers to remain factual in their reporting.

S.

P.S. I'm complimentary by the way... we need more of your sort around. The newspapers would be much more of a pleasure to read then.