Can anyone reassure me about flying in this weather?

Spanish Eyes · 14-09-2018 9:00am #1

Travelling to Spain at the weekend, the forecast is for hefty thunderstorms, and there have been flash floods in the area.

I know planes can fly in thunder and lightning safely, but what happens if there is an electrical storm on approach and landing?

Am a bit concerned, but I'm sure it's not the first time this has happened! Sorry for being such a wuss :eek:

incentsitive · 14-09-2018 9:05am

They would never fly a plane in any conditions which they thought there was any risk to the plane or the 200 people on board.
That is all you need to know.

duskyjoe · 14-09-2018 9:05am

unless your with total cowboys no one will land with an electrical storm on approach and will wait for it to pass or divert. You ‘ll be fine and think of all the red wine and tapas awaiting you

b318isp · 14-09-2018 11:29am

Aircraft tend to divert around or over bad weather. Lightning strikes will not affect the safety of an aircraft. Gust and crosswind limitations for landing are defined, and if likely to be exceeded, the aircraft will divert to an alternative airport or hold until conditions improve.

You could expected turbulence of varying degrees, but there's nothing else to be worried about.

duskyjoe · 14-09-2018 11:52am

i hope we r not being trolled by the op

Tazio · 14-09-2018 12:28pm

I've an interest in aircraft tech and have to travel a lot with work over last 20 years; BUT still am a very nervous flyer! I fear the cruise part of the flight but not the take off and landing - I love those stages; Illogical or what? Was flying to Chicago last Wednesday and we had to hold until the Thunder storms passed.. aircraft were diverted around the weather so all was good. The lady flying the plane that day kept us very well informed. Quite frankly she has a much better view than we do as a passengers. Weather radar has excellent resolution nowadays to help choose smoothest paths to fly etc.

I generally keep an eye on the cabin crew.. if they are standing up and talking about shopping or the great night out then all is good

(only joking)..

There is nothing to worry about; aircraft will perform perfectly fine even with a direct lightning bolt hit; they'll diffuse the charge no problem. I'd be more worried getting wet on arrival waiting for taxis or the car-rental bus!

Enjoy your trip to Spain; I'm envious...

0lddog · 14-09-2018 1:07pm

I bet the flight crew plan to be safely tucked up in their beds after yet another hard days work flying OP around Europe.

Spanish Eyes · 14-09-2018 2:30pm

Thanks for the reassuring replies.

I am not trolling at all. Recently on the way to Nice we were diverted to Toulon because of lightning storms, the turbulence on the way in to Nice before diversion was something else!. Then we had to hold in Toulon as the winds were too high there for a while.

I know that flight and cabin crew are very used to these situations, but ordinary pax like myself do get a little concerned. The reassurance is welcome. Thank you.

billy few mates · 14-09-2018 6:02pm

I wouldn't worry about the weather, aeroplanes tend to avoid bad weather so from a safety point of view you have nothing to worry about. The worst thing that could happen is your flight gets delayed or has to divert to another airport in which case your schedule might be disrupted.

amen · 17-09-2018 8:06pm

Sorry a little off post but thats a bizzare routing into ORD. Was it busy ?

Tenger · 17-09-2018 10:00pm

amen wrote: »

Sorry a little off post but thats a bizzare routing into ORD. Was it busy ?

Ive had that in the past. If there is bad weather they leave the aircraft circling in the distance to prevent congestion in nearby airspace. Once the weather clears they are lined up for approach into O'Hare.

duskyjoe · 18-09-2018 6:57am

amen wrote: »

Sorry a little off post but thats a bizzare routing into ORD. Was it busy ?

Avoiding thunderstorm line over the lake. Standard back door routing

Tazio · 18-09-2018 9:24am

amen wrote: »

Sorry a little off post but thats a bizzare routing into ORD. Was it busy ?

Yes there were thunderstorms in the area (Wed 5th Sep) and we were on hold for a little while until things improved. As an aside there were spectacular T-storms in the area earlier that week.. some cool photos of 'shelf' clouds coming in from lake over the city posted that week.

CaptainSkidmark · 18-09-2018 8:05pm

I landed in Russia once and we made 3 attempts at landing, on the 4th attempts we got down sideways but we got down.

When exiting the aircraft everyones hats were blowing off, couldn't believe we had just landed in that.

Russian X military Pilots flying 777's Rock

faoiarvok · 18-09-2018 8:44pm

CaptainSkidmark wrote: »

I landed in Russia once and we made 3 attempts at landing, on the 4th attempts we got down sideways but we got down.

When exiting the aircraft everyones hats were blowing off, couldn't believe we had just landed in that.

Russian X military Pilots flying 777's Rock

This is why many airlines have a policy of “3 strikes and you’re out” – move on to another airfield where the winds are more favourable because you’ll get fixated on getting it down and start ignoring/minimising risks.

Duff · 19-09-2018 2:25am

CaptainSkidmark wrote: »

I landed in Russia once and we made 3 attempts at landing, on the 4th attempts we got down sideways but we got down.

When exiting the aircraft everyones hats were blowing off, couldn't believe we had just landed in that.

Russian X military Pilots flying 777's Rock

I'd say you lived up to your name on that occasion!

Can anyone reassure me about flying in this weather?

Comments