Millions of people have been viewing and forwarding or posting an alarming-looking video (embedded below) of a giant A 380 airliner landing in heavy crosswinds at Dusseldorf.  It’s scary-fun, but actually nothing unique to the Airbus or all that unusual. There is an entire genre of crosswind landings on YouTube. But owing to size, it is impressive.

There is one place where size does matter. I can’t help but imagine myself in the rear of the cabin, being buffeted from side to side. Probably, that’s where a lot of the cabin crew were during the landing.  And the cheap seats, of course.  I’ve never been on an Emirates A 380, and besides, they have different cabin configurations, some with more front cabin seating than others.

Bryan Demko emails:

Wish they would have noted the crosswind gust speed.  It was remarkable to see the very large oscillations in rudder movements.

Fun articles at:

http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/article/the-crosswind-component/#.WdkWLbjEdec          

http://nlr-atsi.nl//downloads/crosswind-certification-how-does-it-affect-you.pdf

The FAA requirements for cert[ification] will have Boeing and others going to certain airports around the world hunting for high winds with which to certify.

Here is the video: