THE DANGER OF CROSSWINDS PLAY OUT ON A GERMAN RUNWAY

When strong winds are blowing, tailwinds and headwinds are just fine as far as pilots are concerned.  Wind from the front or back of the plane can slow or hasten the travel of the aircraft, but doesn't disturb the aerodynamics of the craft.  A crosswind, on the other hand, can wreak havoc with control of the plane and lead to disaster.  In fact, this is a big part of a meteorologist's job for both the airline and especially at the airport - to predict wind accurately and advise against landing planes in unfavorable or dangerous conditions.  Check out this video from a recent approach of a Lufthansa A320 commercial jet to Hamburg, Germany during strong crosswinds with gusts to hurricane force.

Comments

[Ric Werme]

"Wind from the front or back of the plane can slow or hasten the travel of the aircraft, but doesn't disturb the aerodynamics of the craft."

This is false! In fact, microbursts that hit landing aircraft have caused fatal crashes. Microburst winds blow down to the runway and then spread out. The plane first enounters an increase in airspeed and that causes a proportionate increase in lift. To compensate for it a pilot's reaction is to cut thrust, but on the other side of the microburst the tail wind cause a decrease in lift and the pilot may not be able to compensate before crashing.

See
http://www.nwas.org/committees/avnwxcourse/lesson5.htm
http://profhorn.meteor.wisc.edu/wxwise/wxpilot/lesson9/lesson9lift.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microburst