Boeing 737 almost crashes into the water while landing | Loungtastic
A WestJet B737 Demonstrates How the Famous Princess Juliana Approach Can Be Tricky...
Every aviation enthusiast knows about the approach to St. Maarten's famous Princess Juliana Airport and the remarkable views of aircraft landing there from Maho Beach directly in front of the runway threshold.
While this has always been a great place to celebrate aviation, it can also turn dangerous.
On March 7, Tuesday, WestJet flight 2652 from Toronto was making a descent through a low ceiling to Princess Juliana. The first attempt through rain and low cloud cover was videotaped and photographed by plane spotters who are almost always at Maho Beach to watch incoming aircraft. On that Tuesday they caught a near miss: a near Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT).
The first approach puts the Toronto flight short and low, low enough that jet wash from the Boeing can be seen creating turbulence on the surface of the water. The flight crew does an excellent job of immediately applying power and going around for a second approach. Commercial flight crews, and especially those trained and, in some cases, specially certified to fly into airports with unusual approaches, are well-drilled both in the simulator and as 2nd officers for flights into these airports before captaining a flight there.
Even with the low cloud cover the second approach in the video has a higher trajectory, is more on glide slope presumably and has no problem coming in safely over the water and clearing the famous fence at Princess Juliana.
The video is noteworthy since incidents like this at Princess Juliana, St. Maarten are actually very rare. According to at least one source, there has never been an accident recorded on the final approach to the famous runway 09/27 at Princess Juliana (even though it's pretty obvious there have been several near-CFIT incidents and actual mishaps by civil and military aircraft crashing short of the runway at the end of a final approach in both good and bad weather in aviation history). This further speaks to the special training commercial pilots undergo to fly the route.While there have been conversations about closing Maho Beach to the public for safety reasons it has remained open since there have really been no significant accidents for observers on the ground and it remains a sensational attraction for tourists and aviation enthusiasts alike.
And now you know the rest of the story...
Outstanding!
We're sort of ashamed of the fact that even though we have been doing this for years now, we never saw this video. We knew the story behind it. We've seen pictures. Never did we think "hey, maybe there's a clip of that on Youtube." Well, there is and we finally found it. Most of you probably know this already, but we'll go over it really quickly anyway. Ray Hanna is sort of an aviation legend. Born in New Zealand, he flew for the RAF (Royal Air Force) and was so good that he was actually one of the founding members of the Red Arrows. Don't know who they are? Think the Blue Angels of the United Kingdom. Many might actually argue that they're better than the Blues but we won't touch that subject. We did once and it was a disaster (beers were involved.) As for this particular flyby, it was performed by Hanna in 1987 for a show called Piece of Cake. It centered around a group of RAF members of the Hornet Squadron. In one of the scenes, a “rebellious” pilot wanted to show the brass where to stick it, so he pulled this stunt. It's pretty sweet to say the least. Also, that engine sounds out of this world too.
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Amazing! A Russian Su-27 fighter jet has intercepted a US Navy EP-3E Aries plane over the Black Sea near Russian airspace and escorted it away in a safe manner, the Russian Defence Ministry said. Meanwhile, the US Navy announced that a US reconnaissance aircraft was intercepted earlier on Monday by a Russian fighter jet while flying in international airspace over the Black Sea, Xinhua news agency reported. Here we go... The US reconnaissance aircraft was spotted approaching Russia’s airspace and was immediately identified by the Su-27 fighter jet “at a safe distance,” Russian news agencies reported, citing a defence ministry statement. After reporting back to the communications intelligence unit, the fighter jet escorted it away from the Russian airspace “in compliance with all security and safety requirements,” it said. Subscribe To Loungtastic's Aviation Videos On YouTube! 🛬
According to the Russian Defence Ministry, the fighter jet returned to its home base after the US plane altered its flight course away from Russian airspace.
Another Russian Fighter Intercepted A US Navy Aircraft
The US Navy, in a statement, called the interaction as “determined to be unsafe”, saying the Russian SU-27 conducted “a high speed pass directly in front of the mission aircraft, putting at risk the pilots and crew”.
Also on Monday, a Pentagon spokesperson said that the Russian jet came “very, very close” to the US EP-3 aircraft, adding that it made an additional pass after activating its afterburners to create more turbulence.
There was no communication between the two planes and the encounter lasted about 25 minutes, Spokesperson Eric Pahon told reporters at the Pentagon.
The Pentagon said that the EP-3 was conducting routine operations while the encounter happened, not provoking the Russian activity.
VIDEO: Russian fighter jet intercepts US Navy plane over Black Sea...
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