TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Video surfaced on Sunday (May 7) showing multiple passenger planes forced to abort landings at Japan's Narita International Airport due to strong crosswinds, including a Starlux Airlines plane that had to be diverted, leading to delays.
Over the weekend, Starlux Airlines passengers complained about long delays for two flights at Narita Airport due to intense winds. However, video posted on Sunday by YouTube user "Love Flight Jack" showed strong winds that caused several aircraft to ditch their landings on Saturday (May 6) amid a wind-shear warning at the airport.
On Saturday, Starlux Airlines Flight AJX800 was forced to divert to Nagoya due to crosswinds at Narita, leading to a chain reaction of events that caused a delay of flights on its Taipei to Los Angeles route by 24 hours. The video also showed other airlines unable to land on Saturday and initiating a go-around to divert to Nagoya due to what the video's author described as a "wind-shear alert," leading to numerous delays among other air carriers.
Starlux Airlines plane swayed by powerful crosswinds on May 6. (YouTube, Love Flight Jack screenshot)
In the video, a pilot aboard an incoming jet from the Australian budget carrier Jetstar raises the nose of the aircraft to launch a go-around due to excessive turbulence. There is also a China Airlines plane that encounters a crosswind just before landing and has to perform a go-around as well.
At the 6:50 mark, the Starlux Airlines plane appears and can be seen to have already lowered its landing gear, but as it tries to descend on the runway, it bobs left and right as it's buffeted by powerful winds. The plane sways from side to side and even dips nose down briefly as the pilot struggles to maintain the stability of the aircraft on final approach.
The pilot then applies full thrust to the engines, pulls the nose up, and retracts the landing gear to abort the landing and return to a higher, safer altitude. After the Starlux plane, aircraft from T'way Air, Lucky Air, ANA, JNL, and China Cargo Airlines can all be seen failing to land due to the hazardous conditions.
Video shows Taiwan Starlux Airline plane abort landing at Narita Airport due to intense crosswindshttps://t.co/g39zD85q8g pic.twitter.com/wpRib7mA4Z
— Taiwan News (@TaiwanNews886) May 8, 2023
