In a heart-stopping moment, a Boeing 777 plane narrowly avoided an accident while landing as it faced poor weather and high winds at London's Heathrow Airport. The aircraft, operated by an American airline, was struck by high winds from Storm Gerrit that caused an 'insane' landing as the pilots battled with the controls to avoid potential loss of lives, reported the Daily Express.
As the plane descended amid the choppy weather, it could be seen swerving violently while landing on the runway, sparking a wave of responses from stunned viewers. It appeared for a moment that the pilots lost control of the plane but fortunately, they managed to steer the plane safely and avoid damage.
The video was posted on social media platform X and has already garnered over 2.2 million views. "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Stop it!" the man recording the video could be heard saying as the giant plane was jolted above the runway.
The incident also prompted a variety of responses from social media users. "Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing, right?" said one user on X. Another netizen wrote, "I have been a passenger that experienced this type of landing. The nose coming up though."
"Glad it landed safe. Been in a similar situation twice this year and the pilots decided to go around after attempting to land), I don't want to imagine what the passengers experienced. Terrifying is an understatement," said another Twitterati.
Meanwhile, British Airways cancelled 18 flights set to operate to or from Heathrow Airport due to air traffic control restrictions, according to Sky News, as strong winds and stormy weather caused landing difficulties for other planes.
"We have apologised to our customers for any disruption to their travel plans and our teams are working hard to get them on their way as quickly as possible," said a British Airways spokesperson. Although weather experts claim the worst of Storm Gerrit is over, travellers in the holiday season would be affected by these flight cancellations.
Storm Gerrit has battered the UK with high winds as heavy snow and rainfall damaged houses, cancelled trains and left thousands without access to electricity in Scotland and parts of northern England. As many as 14,000 houses remained without power as of Thursday, ABC News reported.
Manchester Police in northwest England said they received numerous reports late Wednesday of homes damaged by a brief “localized tornado."
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