Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Thunderbirds are go: Video showing planes wobbling in the air at Heathrow becomes internet hit

 

Kevin Rawlinson
Wednesday 31 October 2012 11:16 GMT
Comments
A video showing the extent to which airplanes are tossed around by winds as they come into land at Heathrow Airport has become an internet hit
A video showing the extent to which airplanes are tossed around by winds as they come into land at Heathrow Airport has become an internet hit

It may be uncomfortable viewing for anyone afraid of flying, but a video showing the extent to which airplanes are tossed around by winds as they come into land at Heathrow Airport has become an internet hit.

The time-lapse video shows the huge aircraft bobbing around as if on rough seas as they descend towards the runway. The YouTube user who posted the video said he wanted to show how close planes get to each other as they come into land. But some will be more impressed by the effect of air currents during the descent.

The user “cargospotter” wrote: “This is my first video from London Heathrow. This video shows how short the distances between approaching planes at LHR [London Heathrow] are. Thanks for watching and I hope you like it.”

Some have said that, at 17 times the original speed, the aircraft look like props from the popular television programme Thunderbirds as they appear to dance around in the air, as if on the end of a string.

And the cameraman’s point is made as they queue up in the sky, seemingly very close to each other, to come in to land.

Heathrow saw 476,197 aircraft come in or out last year and served 69.4 million people.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in