Plane Fails To Land In Terrifying Winds During Storm Ali

Many of us have our own flight from hell stories we like to tell: crying babies, endless delays, a bit of turbulence. But few have been aboard a flight coming into land in winds of almost 100mph.

Storm Ali pummelled large parts of the British Isles yesterday, with powerful gales claiming two lives. A woman in County Galway was blown off a cliff in a caravan and a man in County Armagh was killed by a collapsing tree.

PA

The storm has also left many injured and tens of thousands without power.

For those aboard the 9.50am flight from Brussels to Dublin, there could scarcely have been a worse time to fly into the city, with winds blowing in excess of 90mph at the time of landing.

Footage of the descent shows the plane teetering on its approach, as leaves spiral all around. Within metres of landing the pilot clearly decides it is unsafe and aborts, heading back to the skies once more. Sweaty palms, anyone?

Passenger Kirsten Jongberg tweeted about her experience, sharing a video of the landing and claiming it was 'the worst flight of her life'.

She said: "Just had the worst flight of my life - this is my plane having to abort landing at the last second. There was much screaming and crying from passengers, but pilots guided us in safely on second attempt."

Eyewitness Eric Duffy told the Evening Standard that planes didn't even seem to be safe once they had landed.

He said: "We were collecting a friend from the airport. It got delayed so we went to the viewing point. It was so windy that most of the planes were having to abandon touchdown and take off again.

"It was crazy, so scary. The planes were literally rocking from side to side. Even when they managed to touch down, you weren't sure what was going to happen.

"It happened three times for my friend's plane before it finally landed the fourth time."

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for wind for the majority of England and Wales for Thursday night and Friday morning. Winds are not expected to be as strong, reaching around 65mph, but there is a slight risk of damage to buildings which could put people at danger. There is also a yellow weather warning in place for rain, which could affect travel.

Large clean-up operations are in place across the British Isles, as work is undertaken to remove fallen trees from road and railway networks and reconnect thousands of homes to power.

Topics: flight, Plane, Storm

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey