The planespotting community at Christchurch International Airport (CHC) in New Zealand witnessed something not seen every day when an Airbus A380 aircraft made a second attempt at landing from a different direction after aborting the first due to severe winds.
Emirates flight EK 41 was arriving from Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport (SYD) on October 14, 2023, when strong winds forced it to abort its landing and make another attempt coming from a different direction.
Video footage captured by planespotters has been uploaded to social media, and shows the superjumbo jet making a rather wobbly descent. Just as it reached the runway, the A380 can be seen revving its engines and ascending once more.
According to New Zealand weather news bureau WeatherWatch NZ, the aircraft had to arrive from another direction to land due to the slight change in the crosswind. When landing, the aircraft nose needs to lean into the direction of the wind as much as possible, and not come from behind.
The A380’s flight path showed its two landing attempts on either side of CHC airport.
A local planespotter told NZ media outlet 1News that prior to the A380, the group of planespotters had already seen two other flights abort due to the strong winds.
The A380 was able to make its successful second attempt landing two and a half hours later, and was also caught on video.