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WATCH: Nerve-wracking moment easyJet pilot risks ‘intense’ landing as he flies BLIND


EasyJet: Inside the Cockpit aired tonight on ITV and revealed what life is really like for the airline’s pilot. The show captured the emotions and stresses of being in the cockpit and the difficulties pilots have to overcome. One nerve-wracking moment shows Captain Brij Kotecha attempting to land at Innsbruck Airport in Austria. The airport is category C – making it one of the hardest places to land in the world.

Only experienced pilots are deployed on flights to Innsbruck Airport – they need to have undergone simulator training and sat in the jump-seat for landing and take-off at the airport.

Only 140 easyJet pilots can fly into Innsbruck airport, with Kotecha being one of them.

The pilot reveals on some occasions he has heard “passengers screaming in the back” as he comes into land at the Austrian airport.

Nail-biting footage shows Kotecha and his first officer in the cockpit as the easyJet plane approaches Innsbruck.

Nothing can be seen except cloud below – they can’t even see Innsbruck, never mind the runway, – and there is a “higher level of risk” Kotecha explains.

The crew are flying blind at 150mph and the pilots have no choice but to rely on instruments, training and instinct.

The pilots have to look out for three vital landmarks – a group of flats, then strobe lights – called ‘the rabbits’ which guide to the runway – and then the runway itself.

Even when they are just 2,000 feet above land they still don’t know if it is safe to land.

“You will not see what you want to until the decision point and at that point, your adrenalin is going,” says Kotecha.

“Those last few seconds are always intense,” the easyJet pilot adds.

Pilots rely on flight instruments, navigation sensors and weather sensors (primarily radar) instead of normal vision when flying at night or passing through cloud.

The aircraft itself has multiple lights on its exterior to help pilots land when it’s dark (and to help others spot the plane).

If pilots cannot see anything from the flight deck they are trained to perform “instrument landings.” 

This is when they carry out an approach and touch-down in minimal visibility.

In this instance – often in extreme weather – pilots will use the information and positioning on their screens in the cockpit.

Airports will also provide an Instrument Landing System (ILS) which emits a landing beam from the runway for pilots to lock onto.



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