Here's a video clip of an Antonov An-124, the largest jet transport in the world in normal commercial service (surpassed only by a single example of the An-225, its larger brother). It's landing at Nice Airport in the south of France. The pilot has to work hard to line it up, and then get it down before it floats too far down the runway - with results that are highly visible.
I reckon he was probably distracted by topless sunbathers on the nearby beaches! I wonder what the bill for that landing was in terms of scrubbed tires, stressed shock-absorbers and overworked brakes?
Peter
It's clearly a very stressful approach and landing, so no doubt the equipment bill would've been impressive.
ReplyDeleteI also have no doubt the crew's bar tab later that night would've been equally impressive!.
That is one crazy arsed approach path.
ReplyDeleteI guess there are some rich people up on the hill who don't want passengers staring into their back yard like you do coming into San Diego.
VFR approach, so no ILS 'cues'... And yeah, probably the FO making his first landing in 6 months... OBTW, the tires? either 28 or 32 ply... :-)
ReplyDeletePretty impressive to see something that big not wanting to land!
ReplyDeleteBet the mechanics gave the driver an earfull after that landing.
And your re-captcha is a pain in the butt. 3 refreshes before I could read one!
Airliners landing at St. Martin sometimes pass less than 20 feet over a beach located right outside the airport fence. And yes, it's a topless beach.
ReplyDeletePeter
If I were the pilot in command of that aircraft i would have opted to do the "TOGA" dance.
ReplyDelete