Video: British Airways Lands During High Winds
Despite the high winds from Tropical Storm Leslie, the British Airways flight landed safely in Bermuda at approximately 7.15pm this evening [Sept 9].
Earlier today a Government spokesperson said the airport would close temporarily from 9:30am to 4pm as the daytime flights were cancelled, and the airport would be experiencing sustained tropical storm cross winds through the day.
The 6pm update from the NHC said Leslie is now 175 miles to our east north-east and continues to move away from us at 14mph, with tropical storm force winds in Bermuda expected to end sometime this evening.
Read More About
Comments (36)
Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed
Articles that link to this one:
- Post-Tropical Storm Leslie Summary Points | Bernews.com | September 9, 2012
- Flight Cancellations Start: BA, Westjet, United | Bernews.com | October 16, 2012
Well done BA you guy’s are the bully’s of pilots….
More like it’s the size that counts.
The plane they bring in dailey can handle more cross winds then the US flights. I think it’s something like 40knots compared to 25 or 30knots for the smaller aircraft.
Not true about the cross winds. Just a size not a major factor at all.
You’re all wrong , more thought is required here !
If it was all about the ‘size’ how come itsy bitsy private jets land in the worst of conditions ?
Hmmm , I wonder . Just something to get the aviation public a thinking about.
BA has some amazing pilots.
They should have played the “Dambusters” theme tune!
It has nothing to do with crosswinds or size of aircraft. US airlines just suck.
I’m a pilot trained in the U.S. I’m insulted, that some people would that we cannot do the same thing. We are trained in an environment where law suits are prevalent, which impacts our decision making process. So therefore, we will be more cautious when weather conditions are severe. So therefore I would not tout any one airline as having the best pilots in the world. There just different operating procedures for each airline
I think people forget that some US pilots flew for the military for becoming commercial pilots. I am with street smart on this one. Legal considerations factor in this equation and yes operating procedures are the same.
Love the video! Thanks! Such confidence and skill. They would not have made the journey if they did not believe they could. I still would have been nervous though! Lol!
While i know its legit for the service, i do laugh that bermuda buses are cancelled but BA still lands… (again, more a joke than serious poke at PTB).
BA has always been known for their crazy ass landings in Bermuda! i guess after 6 hours they just cant be assed to go anywhere else
dont want to spend anymore on the free onboard wine
The best one to watch was Qantas using the now closed short runway. Worked for Eastern Airlines & we used to stay late after our flts had gone just to watch Qantas lift off the ground right in front of the terminal & just clear the fence on Kindley field road. Nobody else used that runway back then, not even AC.
Thems were the days.
I am one of the pilots that flew into Bermuda tonight and would like to say that “WRONG” and “Polly the Parrot” are both correct. Also, on behalf of my flight crew i would like to say thank you to “SMH”, we try our best.
OMG! Can I have your autograph?! lol But really though BA Pilots are the best at what they do! I always feel safe on BA!
Much respect to you and all the crew Gordon.
I admit it shouldn’t be that way , but I do feel a bit safer on BA . And I’m a very bad flier.
Polly, you would really enjoy a bushplane flight in Alaska. Single engined, 50 plus year old plane, flying around Mt McKinley complete with a glacier landing. 6 passengers. Great trip.
I often watch those programmes on TV . Actually , I think that the smaller less complicated planes in the right hands would be more reassuring than these new flying computers with a bazillion parts and things to go wrong.
Remember the record of the old DC-3 ?
What boggles the mind on those Northern Territories and Alaskan small plane flights is if something goes wrong and you go down without injury no-one will ever find you. No-one that is except the bears !
Yup, love my BA flights from UK to home and back! comfy, feels secure n safe!!
Ha so do tell, was this landign a hair raiser? or just another smooth touchdown that the public worries too much about?
@ Gordon Simerley, I appreciate BA for getting my family back to the UK
safe… Thanks BA best flight ever.
WELL DONE!!! The 777 is a beast and is very flexible especially when it comes to taking off on short runways. The engines are one of the most powerful pair in commercial aviation.
The BA flights are able to land in difficult conditions because they have lots of confidence from loads of practice. The one thing I do know, with my someone from my family flying BA to London just about every month, they will not do anything that will harm the crew, let alone the passengers. They take all of it very seriously.
MA
Well I guess that’s the word on THAT! Thanks for your comment Mr Simerly.
I’ve been flying on BA since I was 11 years old and I am now 53…and have never been disappointed.
Thanks to the RAF trained pilots, whom I believe are some of the most knowledgebale in the world…
But I sure do miss the Concorde…
Hats off to the BA Crew..keep up the excellent work.
Wow! The pilot posted! Someone watched a BA flight approach the highway horizontally, swung around and landed. Skills!
It’s not just the pilots (although they are totally amazing) but the whole BA crew are usually brilliant. I know it’s expensive, but that isn’t their fault and the service they deliver is excellent. Great job BA – you landed in the storm and yet most of Bda’s workforce went home early on Friday as a precaution!! SMH!
It is not just about pilot skills. Different aircraft have different paramameters of needs for landing & takeoff. How much wind, what angle to runway, wet runway, dry runway, aircraft load etc. Airlines may then add further restrictions to those parameters which their pilots have to fly by. The days of the wild west in the air are long over. Pilots have to fly by the book.
That landing looked very routine. It appeared that the wind was more or less straight down the runway. No need to crab the aircraft & straighten up on touchdown. By that time wind was well below maximum for the runway to be open.
It’s awesome to be this good at your job! Kudos to all the BA pilots and crew. You are the best!
Amen!!! Triangle Drifter!! Well said!!!
First, I would like to thank BERNEWS for posting the video clip of last night’s BA 777ER landing. It definitely provides reassurance to nervous flyers of the capabilities of the 777 and BA pilots especially the senior 777 pilots. I concur with many of the comments previously mentioned as I am a bit more relaxed onboard the “heavy” jets as they are usually assigned to the more senior pilots. British Airways senior pilots are world renown for their professionalism and skills especially when under duress.
My only regret is that airlines worldwide are struggling financially and are cutting costs and BA is no exception. I will never forget the team of Captain Peter Burkill and senior first officer John Coward lost power in their 777ER in January 2008, 2 miles from Heathrow runway after flying all the way from China. With heavy populated areas below them, this BA flight crew manages to glide their jet to the edge of the runway without anyone dying.
BA offered voluntary redundancies to cut costs which Captain Burkill accepted; I hope that John Coward gets promoted as he was actually at the controls. USAIR had Captain Sully – now retired and BA had Captain Burkill also gone.
Fear not nervous flyers, there are still seasoned pilots out there flying the “heavies” and even the B737’s and A319’s that fly to BDA have a few longing serving captains. But the flight crew that landed in the conditions yesterday did a great textbook landing, it’s especially comforting to all when landing on our generously long runway. Judging from the video clip, visibility looked great so my only thought was “now don’t screw up the braking & aquaplane off the edge of the runway after a successful touchdown! LOL!! This crew looked to me like they did the standard, by the book approach for windy and wet conditions “Flaps 30, full reverse thrust”; with the airspeed brakes armed and ready. Good job, you made it look easy even though the nervous flyers were wishing that they had chosen a different day to fly.
I can only imagine the passengers on the London bound return leg must have thought they signed up for the NASA space program with their takeoff, which must have occurred last night in those conditions! LOL!! Instead of the normal flap 5 setting, the Captain probably chose flap 15 with added fuel and engines at full takeoff thrust. I prefer the sound of the Rolls Royce Trent 800’s over the GE’s. The climb out of BDA in the dark would have been a bit harrowing for the nervous and like a Disney World roller coaster for others; steep, quick and a little bumpy but all over in a few minutes. The cocktails in coach and champagne in first would have resumed flowing freely with BDA and Leslie becoming a distance memory! Just another routine shift for crew while the nervous wished that had a few xanax.
Peter Burkhill is back as Captain on the BA 777s and has been for ages. It was reported in the UK last year I’m sure.
I have flown the BDA flight myself the landing is always amazing including great scenery.
Thank you and well done, Gordon Simerley and the rest of the BA crew last night. It was interesting to read Mr. Simerley’s comments today! I was flying home on that plane and fully expected a long delay in London and/or a very rocky flight – and neither of my fears was realised. The cabin staff were great as well – very professional and calm at all times.
The flight crew took the plane on a very northerly route, presumably to avoid the two storms in the Atlantic,and then reached a point which was almost directly north of the island, I think less than 100 miles out. They then flew the plane due south before turning in to land – one of the commentors has said someone they knew had seen that sharp turn! That must have been to skirt the hurricane as much as they possibly could. I think I’m right in saying we didn’t have as much runway left when we touched down as we usually do on that flight, but it did not seem to pose the flight crew any problems whatsoever, and the landing looked a lot more dramatic on the video than it seemed inside the plane! Once we were on the ground and the plane came to a stop, we then realised how strong the winds were as the aircraft hull was being noticeably buffeted about, and departing the aircraft was quite an exciting experience.
Great job, and thanks for getting us home safely, avoiding not one but two hurricanes and landing so well on a very stormy evening.
I’m not sure who Gordon Simerley is but he certainly wasn’t one of the pilots landing that evening. My first officer flew the approach for my landing. Some interesting comments. I love yours Catherine Dl. Thanks for your nice comments ‘passenger on last nights flight’ although i can assure you we touched down in exactly the right place so there was the usual amount of runway left. Triangle Drifter….. you were right. Although it was windy and bumpy the wind was more or less down the runway. Mixitup…. thanks for your comment. Also thanks to all of my amazing crew. Who are you Gordon???????
As daughter of Captain Colin Vallis – can I just say that I am very very very proud of the fabulous job my daddy has done yet again. As a senior British Airways captain I know that he is an extremely skilled aviator. However, I also know he works very hard every 6 months on the comprehensive simulator training required of all British Airways pilots even after over 25 years on the job. Daddy you are a credit to British Airways and we are all very lucky to have you and your colleagues keep us safe is in the skies! Kudos daddy and Kudos British Airways!
I enjoyed the comments for this news piece. I absolutly love British Airways. When I traveled last December for Gatwick a few days before Christmas, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Cassava Pie included in dinner.
I can clearly say that BA is the best Airline serving Bermuda. Bravo to the Flight Crew and Flight Attendants.