SCHIPHOL, NETHERLANDS – A hard, hairy landing for a Boeing 747 cargo aircraft from Singapore Airlines Cargo on Wednesday afternoon at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS). A short but powerful unofficial southwesterly storm (no name) developed rapidly over the English Channel and raged across the Netherlands with wind gusts of 62 mph (100 kph). Initially the 747 was forced to perform a ‘go around’, but at the second attempt the pilot of the cargo aircraft managed to land the Jumbo Jet safely, but not very smooth though – the two right engines almost hit the runway, as you can see in the video. After this hairy landing the airport immediately closed the infamous ‘Polderbaan’ (runway 18R) and runway 22 (‘Oostbaan’) was opened to handle the remaining flights for the stormy evening, although several flights were cancelled due to the storm.

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(Head image: Jerry Taha)