Pilot nails sideways landing in 40-knot crosswinds at Bristol Airport

[Bayard]

Holy Crap!!

[dchill]

1. The real need for professionals.

[2naSalit]

2. Now that is skill to perfection.

I would have needed medical or psychological help after that as a passenger!

[Aristus]

3. Bravo! Well done!

Those passengers owe that pilot a beer. I rather suspect, however, that he/she would simply state that it's all in a day's work. Their skill and dedication always astonish me.

[FiveGoodMen]

4. Nails it is right!!

[brush]

5. Holy crap is right. Wonder if those passengers know how lucky they are?

That pilot is a real pro. He was actually sideways from the wind and couldn't straighten up the plane until touchdown.

Amazing skill.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. WTF!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. A direct 40-kt crosswind might exceed some airlines' ops specs or

the airplane's operating limitations (for most jets it's somewhere around 30 kts), and the pilot could have gotten him/herself a good talking-to for not rejecting the landing. As it was, they didn't get the airplane aligned directly ahead (and probably couldn't in that wind) when they touched down, which could have put a lot of stress on the tires and landing gear.

[Major Nikon]

8. Could have ended a lot worse

A blown tire or snapped main gear in those conditions would not be surprising. The reason most airlines prohibit those operations isn’t because lack of pilot skills to pull it off.