‘Crab landing’: Understand the maneuver that allowed planes to land during a storm in London | The world

Scenes of pilots having difficulty landing from Heathrow Airport were eye-catching.

When landing again and again, the pilots made a different landing than you usually see.

Instead of descending along the runway, the plane approaches sideways until the last moment. This movement is called the “crab landing” or “crab approach”. Only at the last moment do they re-align the track and touch the ground.

Crab landing takes place under strong winds.

These winds, especially when not aligned with the direction of the runway, complicate landing. In the case of Hurricane Eunice, the wind blew through the site, making it very difficult to land.

The wind makes the aircraft unable to line up properly with the runway. Going in situations like this (when landing disruption occurs) is common.

To deal with the problem, a “grab landing” system was developed in which the nose of the aircraft is diverted to the direction of the wind. Thus the aircraft moves slightly sideways towards the runway.

According to experts, this technique facilitates the maneuver to land the pilot.

Weather service United Kingdom A rare red alert was issued on Friday (18) due to “high winds” caused by Hurricane Eunice.

In the British capital, winds of up to 130km / h were reported, many parks were closed and the famous London Eye Ferris wheel stopped gaining visitors.

According to the Meteorological Office, the event could “cause significant disruption” with winds of up to 145 km / h. At least one death has been confirmed as a result of the storm.