Pilot's Smooth Landing Amid 'Unpredictable' Winds Applauded

A video of a pilot navigating a challenging plane landing has gone viral on TikTok. The video was shared by Pilot Simona (known as @pilot_simona on TikTok), an airline pilot, and has had 2.5 million views since it was posted on July 21. The footage was captured in the Romanian capital of Bucharest, according to a later comment by the original poster. The clip shows a pilot and co-pilot inside the cockpit. Each appears to be maneuvering their steering wheel with one hand, while handling a lever or buttons on the control deck with the other, as the aircraft appears to swivel from side to side. Various automated messages, presumably from the control deck, can be heard as the plane continues to approach the ground. A caption shared with the post says: "Seatbelts ON it's going to be a bumpy ride! In a world where air meets earth, summer presents an extraordinary ballet of challenges through summer's challenging conditions—thermal turbulence and unpredictable crosswinds."

The Dangers of Landing Amid Thermal Turbulence and Crosswinds

Thermal turbulence can occur on warm summer days when the sun heats the Earth's surface unevenly, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Certain surfaces, including barren ground, rocky and sandy areas, get heated quicker than grass-covered fields and much more rapidly than water. "Heating from below creates unstable conditions, gusty winds and bumpy flying conditions," warns the NWS. "Thermal turbulence will have a pronounced-effect on the flight path of an airplane approaching a landing area. The airplane is subject to convective currents of varying intensity set in motion over the ground along the approach path. These thermals may displace the airplane from its normal glide path with the result that it will either overshoot or undershoot the runway."

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Crosswinds occur when the wind direction is not aligned with the runway center line. "Because an aircraft points in the prevailing wind direction during flight...the aircraft will point either left or right of the center line during the approach and landing, despite flying in the runway direction," explains the Pilot Institute, an aviation training provider accredited by the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training. The institute is also a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety team industry member. According to the FAA Safety Team, crosswind landings can be "one of the most challenging things pilots face" and takeoffs/landings in certain crosswind conditions are "inadvisable or dangerous." The FAA's Airplane Flying Handbook warns that "if the crosswind is great enough to warrant an extreme drift correction, a hazardous landing condition may result. Therefore, the takeoff and landing capabilities with respect to the reported surface wind conditions and the available landing directions must be considered."

Flying Through 'Tumultuous Currents'

The caption shared with the latest viral post says: "We dive into the intense world of thermal turbulence, where sweltering summer heat stirs up an invisible sea of hot and cold air masses. Experience the plane's riveting journey through these unseen tumultuous currents." Three buzzes could be heard from the cockpit, as a message overlaid on the video reads: "Autopilot OFF – alarm." An automated voice is later heard saying "approaching minimums." The voice later repeats "minimums" twice, as the pilots continue to navigate the plane. The voice is heard counting down, saying "200, 100, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10" as the plane finally touches down on the ground before the clip ends.

'Perfectly Well Done'

Several TikTokers were impressed by the pilot's landing amid the challenging conditions. User raywalmer580 said: "I'm amazed at the amount of movements on the wheel." Susan Jaime said: "So perfectly well done Pilot Sim. You are awesome." LadyDavenportt noted "Well that was a gorgeous landing" and Liviu Martinescu simply wrote "Respect!" Eric Alvarado733 said "Very softly landing" and Glen Davidson agreed, noting it was "smooth as butter!" Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment. This video has not been independently verified. Do you have a travel-related video or story to share? Let us know via life@newsweek.com and your story could be featured on Newsweek.