Storm Corrie caused havoc and destruction across the UK this past weekend, including a British Airways passenger jet involved in a near-miss disaster at Heathrow Airport on Monday.
According to plane spotters, the plane struggled to land at the airport after being trapped in a 144km/h gust of wind.
The plane was scheduled to land at Heathrow after departing from Aberdeen at 10.50am, the Daily Mail reported.
The entire incident was captured by Big Jet TV, showing the plane almost flip on to its side after making its approach. Strong winds then forced the pilot to attempt a “touch and go” manoeuvre, meaning he had to attempt a second approach.
Witnesses said they could see the paint coming off the tail of the plane as it hit the ground during the attempted landing.
British Airways has not said how many passengers were on board, but according to Newshub, an A321 aircraft can carry as many as 200 passengers.
A321 TOGA and Tail Strike!
— BIG JET TV (@BigJetTVLIVE) January 31, 2022
A full-on Touch and go, with a tail strike! Watch for the paint dust after contact and watch the empennage shaking as it drags. The pilot deserves a medal! BA training could use this in a scenario - happy to send the footage chaps 😉#aviation #AvGeek pic.twitter.com/ibXjmVJGiT
Jerry Dyers, who runs Big Jet TV, can be heard saying “Oh my God!” as the plane begins to wobble while getting closer to landing. The plane-spotting enthusiast provided a running commentary as the plane attempted to land in rough winds.
Data from FlightRadar24.com showed that BA1307 returned to a height of 3 675 feet (1 120 metres) before landing safely on the second attempt, Newshub reported.
After the dramatic incident, Dyers tweeted: “The pilot deserves a medal! BA training could use this in a scenario.”
His tweet has already gained more than 62K views.