Source: Jerry Taha.
Footage has emerged of an A380 being violently rocked by Storm Angus as it comes into land.
The gigantic Emirates aircraft – the world’s biggest passenger plane – was filmed approaching the runway sideways at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.
It can be seen moving sideways into the wind as part of a special 'crab' landing technique.
Dramatic footage has emerged of an A380 being violently rocked by Storm Angus as it comes into land.
The gigantic Emirates aircraft - the world's biggest passenger plane - was filmed approaching the runway sideways at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.
It can be seen moving sideways into the wind as part of a special "crab" landing technique.
The hair-raising footage was captured on Sunday by Jerry Taha Productions.
A crosswind or "crab" landing sees an aircraft drifting laterally as it approaches the runway in order to track the runway centreline, thereby enabling the pilot to safely bring the plane to the ground.
Another video showed a smaller passenger plane trying to land at the airport but aborting at the last minute and taking off again in what's known as a "go around" procedure.
Steven Draper, representative of the British Airline Pilots' Association (Balpa) and a former pilot, said of the crab landing method: "Landing in strong crosswinds or turbulence goes beyond the capabilities of the aeroplane's automatic pilot.
"A pilot should be alert and free from fatigue when landing, and be given the opportunity to develop excellent handling skills."
Speaking to MailOnline previously, Dai Whittingham, the chief executive of the UK Flight Safety Committee, stated that while crosswinds appear dangerous, they are an everyday occurrence.
He said: "High winds in themselves are not dangerous but they can certainly be inconvenient, especially if the wind direction is across the runway.
The A380 touched down almost sideways to compensate for the strong crosswinds.
"All pilots train to land in high crosswind conditions and will have practiced to the aircraft limits in the simulator.
"When any new aircraft is certified to carry passengers it comes with a published crosswind limit which is the maximum that has been demonstrated by a test pilot during the certification process.
"If the wind is outside that limit the crew will have to take the aircraft to an alternate airport where the wind is within limits (which means a runway that has less of a crosswind component).
"In practice, the wind is rarely aligned fully with the runway so there is always a slight crosswind to deal with, it is just the amount of it that varies."
Whittingham also noted that the public misconceptions about landing in strong winds is probably down to turbulence as the approaches are always bumpy.
Waves crash over the harbour wall in Dover, south east England, as a storm, Storm Angus, the year's first big winter storm in Europe, lashes England's south coast. Photo / AP
Additionally, passengers do not have the same forward view as the pilot, which makes the sensation of being buffeted in all directions all the more uncomfortable.
He concluded by saying: "There is a briefing given before all approaches to ensure that both pilots understand the type of approach, what the division of duties are, and any special considerations.
"A strong crosswind (or strong winds in general) would certainly be a briefing topic.
"Both pilots will be monitoring the situation to ensure the wind does not exceed their limits and both will be alert to the possibility that the landing may need to be abandoned.
"The pilots would also remind themselves of the correct techniques and decide on the additional safety factor to be applied to the target approach speed."
The largest aircraft in the Emirates A380 collection can cater for 615 passengers, 557 in standard economy with 58 in flat bed seats.
Emirates was the second airline to receive the A380 after Singapore Airlines, and started services between Dubai and New York in August 2008.
Storm Angus brought hurricane force winds to southern Britain yesterday - causing flooding and power cuts to thousands of homes. Today the storm has been replaced by a second wet weather front that has wreaked havoc for commuters across the South West.
Rain has now cleared the SW but #StormAngus is bringing wet weather elsewhere with winds expected to strengthen in the coming hours pic.twitter.com/ZlzgIYif44
