microburst

[prb46]

Sorry but not sure if this is the right forum to ask a question.
I'm near finishing a fictional novel,and haven't been on this site for a long
time.
A few years ago,I was overseeing a BAC 1-11 going from london to Beirut.
The crew went through a microburst,and when they returned the captain
said it was about the most frightening thing that he had gone through.
I have done my research,and understand that it is caused by a sudden wind,like a tornado,hitting the ground,then bouncing back,causing an aircraft to firstly go through a very stong headwind,then followed by a strong tailwind,which if not properly dealt with,will down the aircraft.
My question is whether you could hit a microburst the other way round,so you have a sudden tail wind,followed by a huge head wind.
The pilot involved is not contactable,so I was wondering if anyone has been through such an experience.How do you deal with your speeds,flaps etc.
Does it show on radar,or just as a thunderstorm?
I suppose the other obvious question is are pilots trained to cope with such a situation.From memory I believe that it can cause a 1000ft deviation in height within seconds.
Sorry if this has already been discussed on another forum before.Not that it would probably make any difference,but aircraft in question is a b757-200.
Any help would be appreciated

[BOAC]

A microburst is generally taken to be the downpouring of air from a well-developed Cumulus or CB cell. The air does indeed strike the ground and then flows outwards away from the cell. As you fly towards the cell, therefore, you will be going into a 'headwind'. As you transit under the cell, you will have the downdraft, and then as you pass out of the other side, a tailwind. Because of this you will see it is not normal to meet things the other way round.

The changes in wind may well cause lower speed a/c a problem, but the primary concern for passenger a/c like the 757 is the sometimes huge downflow which in some parts of the world can exceed the climb capability of the a/c, and has brought down jet airliners. There is therefore no 'technique' other than to avoid, and yes the cell will be visible on weather radar, so the clue is there although the air movement will not be.

[Curious Pax]

If you do a Google for Delta flight 191 at Dallas in 1985 you will see the possible result of a microburst. Reading the sudden fluctuations in speed and lift described is a real eye-opener as to what the weather can do, even to a large aircraft such as a TriStar.

[prb46]

Many thanks BOAC and Curious pax for your replies.
Much appreciated.Will keep trying for details of that flight.Can't find it
at the moment but seem to remember that it ended in disaster,which
I don't want to happen.
Just thinking that if you have your gear down,and flaps for landing,and
suddenly hit a vast headwind,you will suddenly lift very quickly.I would then presume the obvious choice would be to increase speed,retract flaps and undercarriage with a view to go around.However,from the limited details I have found,timing would not allow this,so I think I may leave this part out of the book,and concentrate on severe thunderstorms instead!
Thanks again.

[BOAC]

suddenly hit a vast headwind

- lesson 1 - start thinking about the next, opposite phase.

As you say, airspeed increases. To counter this you reduce power and adjust pitch attitude. Depending on how much speed/power/attitude change you gain/need, yes, you may well need to break off the approach.

[prb46]

Thanks BOAC.
As you can gather I'm out of my depth here,so will keep to thunderstorm activity and windsheer on approach.Something I do know about!!
Have a good day.