Yeah, it was most definitely an "arrival":
There was an audible wince among the crowd. "ooo."
"It still looks like the aircraft is gonna probably still be usable..." Ouch!
I don't see any wrinkles in the skin.pic from yesterday...
There was an audible wince among the crowd. "ooo."
What was the other Airbus doing there today? Left after the airshow....
And in front of all those eggspurts, too! If I were the captain, I'd lay blame squarely on the FO.
"Yeah, the FO pressed the 'LAND NOW' button."
"Yeah, the FO pressed the 'LAND NOW' button."
Oh for Pete's sake. I was there. The winds were gusting to 30 knots, they broke the pole on my damn canopy. I'd like to see anyone here land a jumbo jumbo jet with that kind of direct crosswind in three thousand feet (they had to make it before the taxiway that leads into the main square. I doubt they could have been pushed back). They did just fine by me.
The winds were not gusting to 30 knots when the Airbus landed - No way. If I had to guess I'd say a steady wind at 12-15 knots.
They had 5500 feet to make the taxiway, and had they not been trying to show off their automated braking system, they wouldn't have *needed* to get stopped by the taxiway - They had a tug present. Besides, the 747 Large Cargo Freighter from last year which is comparable in size had no problem at all landing and making the same turnoff.
Could *I* do it? Well, I've never flown a jumbo jet, so probably not. But that's pretty well beside the point. It's not my job to do it. It *is* this pilot's job to do it.
But what I have NOT seen mentioned is that this plane is still an Airbus company airplane. Who is to say that this landing wasn't part of an ongoing flight test program.
Give it a rest, already.
You speculating that they slammed it into the grond as part of a "hard landing" test of some sort, with that many people nearby?
I'm guessing that's not the case, otherwise Airbus has no business touting safety.
He landed with absolute determination. I'd sure hate to have all my landings scrutinized like that.
Nor I, really.What I saw I wouldn't exactly call slammed.
Huh??? Why not? Sure proves the robustness of the gear.