Heart-stopping moment: SIA plane 'drifts' upon landing, has viewers at the edge of their seats

A heart-stopping attempt by a Singapore Airlines (SIA) plane to land in the midst of a storm has got viewers cheering after it was successful, albeit with a scary 'twist' at the last moment.

The video was captured by Big Jet TV via a YouTube livestream at London's Heathrow Airport on Friday, Feb 18. A clip of the SIA plane's landing later went viral on TikTok, with close to 6,000 likes and more than 140 comments.

In the hours-long livestream on YouTube, multiple commercial planes were captured landing, or attempting to land, at the London airport amid strong crosswinds caused by Storm Eunice.

According to a Reuters report, storms had battered England and other northern European nations that day, with record winds of up to 122 miles (196km) per hour and even shredding the roof of London's O2 Arena.

As a result of the strong winds, many planes approaching Heathrow were shown aborting their initial attempts to land, opting instead to circle around for another try.

One of them happened to be a Singapore Airlines plane, which could be seen in the video being buffeted by the evidently strong winds in the sky while waiting its turn.

The action occurs at the 3 hour 33 minute mark of the video.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPQh1FrbOc0[/embed]

In his voiceover, the commentator noted that the SIA Boeing 777 plane was the same one that made the decision to circle around 20 minutes earlier.

The aircraft, with its unmistakable livery and logo, is seen cautiously approaching the runway before eventually pulling off the landing.

Right after touching its gears down on the tarmac, however, the plane suddenly swerves to the right due to the strong winds before quickly correcting itself.

The heart-pumping moment caused the commentator to exclaim loudly: "When you're sitting on an airplane and it's got that amount of sway, it's just… nuts, just absolutely nuts."

He added that passengers on the plane would undoubtedly have felt the sudden movement, noting, " it's just like you're in a washing machine".

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@jackielelelelele/video/7066234288504671489?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id6918556739861218818[/embed]

In the comments section of TikTok, many viewers appeared just as awed by the gripping scene, with most of them commending the pilot for his skills.

"Feels like I am watching MotoGP or something," wrote one commenter, while others wondered how the moment must have felt like for passengers on the plane.

The original video on YouTube, which was watched by more than 100,000 people live, has since garnered more than 6 million views.

An SIA spokesperson told AsiaOne on Monday (Feb 21) that the flight in the video was SQ306 that departed Singapore for London on Feb 18.

While the Boeing 777 had to land in bad weather caused by storm Eunice, all operating conditions remained within the usual limits of the aircraft.

"Our pilots are trained to execute take-offs and landings in all weather conditions," SIA said, adding that the pilots were able to land the aircraft safely despite the storm.

There are no reports of injuries to passengers or crew onboard and the airlines' ground staff provided assistance to the passengers upon disembarkation.

The "fully serviceable plane" returned to Singapore on the same day.

candicecai@asiaone.com