Defying an impossible gust of 80 km/h crosswinds, caused by Storm Ciara coming from The Atlantic, Lebanese MEA Pilot Georges Dib neatly landed an Airbus A330 plane, full of passengers, in the middle of a runway of a London airport.
The skillful Hollywood-esque landing was caught on video and instantly became viral.
On the morning of February 9th, Lebanese Captain Georges Dib and Co-Pilot Carl Stephen departed from Rafic Hariri International Airport aboard the ME201 flight, transporting passengers from Beirut to London.
As the plane approached its destination at Heathrow Airport, the crosswinds began dangerously swaying the aircraft, posing a serious challenge to its pilots, and a major threat to the lives of all those on board.
A local observer at the airport witnessed the effects of the wind on the Middle East Airlines plane and began recording a video on his smartphone.
As can be deduced from the man’s praiseful and excited tone, he had at least a decent understanding of the technicalities behind what Pilot Georges Dib and the first officer at his side were doing.
His commentary on the pilot’s mid-air performance was very enthusiastic and optimistic.
“Good lad! Skills! Skills!” The commentator applauded as the adept Lebanese captain landed the aircraft gracefully and safely on the airport’s runway, finally touching its wheels with the tarmac, and saving the lives of its passengers.
Middle East Airlines posted the video on its official Facebook page and a source of MEA attested that it showed “the professionalism of Captain Georges Dib who managed to land safely in the middle of the runway,” as per Annahar.
Coincidentally, a very similar case took place in August 2019, when Lebanese Captain Rola Hoteit, the first female MEA pilot, was praised for overcoming a dangerous burst of crosswinds and spectacularly landed at the same airport, Heathrow, in London.
Feast your eyes on the skills of Captain Georges Dib in the video below!
If you think that was an easy feast, watch an English pilot trying to make it minutes earlier and…failed:
