Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Madeira Aviation
Topics: World News, Ryanair, Travel
Jess Hardiman
Footage captures the scary moment a Ryanair pilot managed to pull off a ‘sideways’ landing during high crosswinds.
The video was filmed at Funchal Airport in Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal off the coast of Africa.
It was shared earlier this year in May by YouTuber Madeira Aviation, who praised the ‘unbelievable’ and ‘amazing’ efforts of the pilot.
"It was amazing this approach, I still thought [it] was going around but he managed to land!!” they said.
In the clip, we see the Ryanair plane approaching the runway at Funchal, turning to make its approach.
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As it moves closer to the tarmac, high winds appear to drag its nose left, causing the plane to shift sideways.
Just as it hits the runway, the pilot manages to straighten the wings up slightly, making for what looks like a relatively drama-free landing.
One person said the clip showed a ‘perfectly executed approach and landing’, sharing their ‘kudos to the pilots’.
Someone else commented: “I was on vacation staying in one of those homes on the hill that day, and I saw this feat of pure majesty and professionalism first hand, and let me tell you I was very happy to see such a perfect landing executed by that pilot!”
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A third said they were actually on the flight, admitting it was indeed a slightly hairy landing.
“I was a passenger on that flight that day!” they wrote.
“It was quite a scary landing, felt relieved to be on the ground, although the landing was really hard. My pilot did a great job!”
And amazingly, someone called Adam Uppsala claiming to actually be the pilot also commented.
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He said: “I was the pilot of this flight. I'm very surprised someone was filming the touch down. Thank you very much for all your kind comments – they mean a lot. See you on board soon!”
A fellow pilot shared their own insight to such sketchy landings, explaining: “As a pilot I would like to teach something: To approach sideways is not a decision we could make (to approach straight with crosswinds is a decision we could make but that would be stupid and dangerous). The plane automatically turns sideways in crosswinds because the wind force attacks the rudder plane way more than the small bow which causes this phenomenon.”
Many others also expressed their mutual experiences with landing in Madeira, which is notorious for its windy conditions.
A Madeiran who travels to the archipelago every year, said: “Some people saying ‘horror’ clearly don’t know there’s a strategy to land against these types of winds, the pilot did the right thing by going side ways and adjusting at the last minute. Very well done! It’s for this reason I feel safe travelling anywhere.”