Thursday, April 10, 2008

Lufthansa Airbus crosswind landing at Hamburg

On Saturday March 1st, a Lufthansa Airbus A320 made a crosswind landing at Hamburg airport. With strong gust during its final stage of approach, just before touchdown, the aircraft almost had a wingstrike. Watch the video on YouTube.



News article: 24 year-old Co-Pilot Steered The Lufthansa Airbus A320.

Note: People are still misunderstanding that only the pilot (captain) can fly the aircraft. That's not true. Co-pilot (First Officer) can also fly the aircraft, takeoffs and landings, however with final decisions made and assisted by Captain.

The captain, as a Pilot-in-Command (PIC), is responsible for overall aircraft operations and safety. However, he doesn't need to be the one who fly the aircraft. (Read wiki:Pilot in command above.)

For most modern 2-crew airliners, flying is divided into 2 roles, PF (Pilot Flying, or piloting pilot) and PNF (Pilot Not Flying, or pilot monitoring). PF, as the name says, flies the aircraft. And PNF monitors flight parameters and assists PF in whatever he needs.

PF/PNF roles can be switched, i.e. if the captain is a PF, then the co-pilot is PNF, or vice versa.

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