A SunExpress Boeing 737 MAX 8 came perilously close to scraping its wing on the runway while landing in powerful winds from Storm Boelo at Edinburgh Airport on Sunday.
The aircraft, operating flight XQ598 from Antalya, Turkey, was buffeted by strong gusts during its descent and landed safely shortly before 12.10pm while a Met Office amber wind warning was in force.
Dramatic Approach Captured on Video
Footage shared on social media shows the plane approaching the runway at an angle as its wings flex in the gusty conditions. As it gets closer to the ground, the aircraft appears to be pushed by the wind, with one wing sitting noticeably higher than the other. Its right wing then comes extremely close to the tarmac as the aircraft touches down.
Despite the dramatic approach, the plane landed safely and continued to the terminal as normal.
Passengers and Viewers React
People who watched the footage praised the pilots for bringing the aircraft down safely in the challenging conditions. One person said: "Huge respect to the pilots working in these conditions."
Another added: "Now that’s what you call skilled flying. I can't imagine the sheer amount of stress pilots come under flying in these conditions."
One passenger who was on board said after seeing footage of the landing: "We were on the flight, could feel it landing on one wheel, never realised it was that close."
Jet2 Incident at Birmingham Airport
This comes as a Jet2 passenger plane temporarily left the runway after landing at Birmingham Airport during Storm Boelo. The Boeing 737-800, registration G-JZHE, was operating flight LS1310 from Venice Marco Polo Airport to Birmingham when the incident happened on Sunday afternoon.
Flight-tracking data cited by AeroXplorer showed the aircraft landing on Birmingham Airport's Runway 33 at around 2.19pm. The aircraft's left main landing gear reportedly crossed onto the grass beside the runway before the plane returned to the paved surface.
Jet2 attributed the incident to "exceptional weather conditions" caused by Storm Boelo. A spokesperson said: "Flight LS1310 from Venice to Birmingham temporarily moved off the runway after landing at Birmingham Airport earlier this afternoon, due to exceptional weather conditions caused by Storm Boelo."
The spokesperson added: "The aircraft immediately returned to the runway and has now taxied to the stand. We can confirm that everyone has disembarked as normal." No injuries were reported following the incident.
