LogicDude
34124
876
13
Video recorded from the cockpit of a Boeing 737 shows the exact moment a pilot executes a zero-visibility landing, a maneuver that demands maximum precision and technical mastery.
Jan 1, 2026 4:26 AM
LogicDude
34124
876
13
Video recorded from the cockpit of a Boeing 737 shows the exact moment a pilot executes a zero-visibility landing, a maneuver that demands maximum precision and technical mastery.
duffman3335
My ass puckered up just watching that.
FatBastardVegetarian
ArcaneM37
I was in a plane that made a landing like this. We just kept descending and descending and I was wondering when we were gonna break through the clouds and be able to see and it was about 5 seconds before touch down. I couldn't believe it. Flawless landing though.
hyptosis
Not true because the console isn't smoking from an electrical fire.
DiracsDelta
IFR for the win
SalmySwims
Ah, that looks like most days in my neck of the woods. I was hoping the airport would be in the video to see if I could ID the location.
toshach33
The artificial horizon is dead-on level. The tilted and loosely secured camera make this video look scarier than the landing might have actually been. Here's a cockpit video of a 737 landing in a thunderstorm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJtU6KykJ_A The pilot in the video I posted is not jerking the yoke around nearly as much, and the landing looks much smoother, almost routine, which I know it is not.
elvianempire
not zero visibility. minimums callout is at 200ft. at most a cat II ILS, but likely just a regular cat I. camera is never able to capture what the pilot(s) see exactly.
NearHereThere
FatBastardVegetarian
I think i've been seeing this gif for fifteen years. And it still is marvelous.
verityauger
My brother in Christ, isn't minimums supposed to be a thing?
keelindsey
That's easy. Anyone can do a zero visibility landing. Gravity does most of the work. The hard part is putting the plane down upright and in one piece!
Sebastopol140
TheRealDude19047
They are flying on instruments.
QueefSlurper6372
Do you like movies about Gladiators?
happywalker
Yasashii93
Honest question: wouldn’t it be safer to use the auto land system in this particular scenario?
Chemicalbondage
Surely you can’t be serious
AyatollahBahloni
IFR scares the shit out of me.
Wonkable
It's all about personal minimums, and procedures. Never takeoff if you're not comfortable landing in the weather. Especially single engine GA
Fargus57
TERRAIN ... TERRAIN ... TERRAIN ... ... . Me in every flight sim I've ever played.
calenti
ALITITUDE ALTITUDE ALTITUDE
Radoonichan
retard...retard...retard...
Fargus57
Yes. That describes me exactly when it comes to my aviator skills. My reactions are nearly the exact opposite of what's needed to control an aircraft. I am well aware of my deficiencies in that regard. If I am piloting a plane, there is no such thing as a happy and safe landing. Everyone onboard is doomed.
kylefromterminator
You better trust your instruments
Whatdoyousaytoanicecupoftea
The loops a killer. Looks like he veered off the run way and into another fog bank...
KumquatKoppa
"What it feels like heading into 2026?"
Bud, we're still in the air, and most of us are low on fuel.
The1Ballthrow
The little wiper is trying to help and doing its best.
hetriedtokillmewithaforklift
"Ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodwe'regonnacrashwe'regonnacrash"
dogmatix
Lol that was my main thought too! Couldn't have done it without you wiper buddy!
Rangecontrol
this year, imm gonna try to be like that wiper. dunno if im gonna help, but im gonna work hard at it.
Saxytimes
Beautiful!
MuffinProof
The little wiper that could.
SimSimSimsalabim
It couldn't but it tried as hell
magical8ball
PersonalityFire
Wiper, yes wiping!
BreakablePotato
Just pull over until the weather clears.
jaggcomputing5
Pants successfully shat.
anerdwithaknife
I think that was for 2025. For 2026 it would need some burning fires outside the windows as well.
TalanRhodes
There's a spot that's blurred out for some reason on the dashboard. Anyone know why that is?
isthistrue
SORA AI logo probably
Blackfinity
It's the chronometer/elapsed time/clock instrument and I have no idea why it was blocked out.
Solusek
I'm guessing they are trying to hide which plane/pilot did this (maybe the video isn't supposed to be released) to limit someone getting in trouble. The pilots face is also blurred.
BenderSaysNeat
Yeah from what I can tell this was an illegal approach since he descended below minimums without any indication of the runway environment. At least from what I see on the video.
monkeyfly
Pfft. I could do that. Maybe not without killing myself and everyone else on board but I'd definitely be on the ground.
daianaaaa
And possibly a few others on the ground
Ghlargh
Flying is easy. Taking off is harder. Landing safely is the hardest part. However as you point out, landing unsafely is by far the easiest part of flying.
GeekBoyChrisOnlySometimes
Frickin true. I could EASILY do that. Everyone within a 500 foot radius would be dead, including myself, but I'd EASILY be able to attempt that.
ExaDeuce
A couple times passengers have asked me while boarding "hey can you land at (insert tiny airport near their home) first haw haw?" And I respond "I can land anywhere once."
LicensedAdHominem
I have landed a fighter jet once. There was a fire and damaged landing gear but that feels insignificant to, well, surviving. So you know, it doesn't have to be perfect. Like my instructor always said, as long as floor(N/2)+1 occupants survive it's good enough
VaardArk
I know you said fighter jet, but my tired brain was sitting here thinking N number of passengers on a plane like “yep, half of them survived, good enough for me!”
The1Ballthrow
Interesting to see a pilot wear gloves. I wonder why. Cold hands? Better grip? Look cool?
SecretAgentSuperBooger
Was wondering the same thing. Guessing if you had to manhandle a yoke like that, you'd probably want the best grip possible.
nik282000
How do those wipers not melt at that speed?
dashers
Video is sped up.
Goldmarble
Liquid cooling.
bippityboppitybuttsex
It is around 145mph... you design them to handle that....
BenderSaysNeat
When the computer said “minimums” that means that the airplane is at the DA, or decision altitude, for that instrument approach, assuming it’s a precision approach. Once at DA, the runway environment needs to be on sight or the pilot flying needs to execute a go around. I didn’t see any lights or anything until the runway was a handful of feet away. So either the pilot saw the barest glimpse of the runway env., had declared an emergency and had to land, or we just watched an illegal landing.
TheLastCircusBunny
@flying_yoke
TheLastCircusBunny
This pilot goes by the handle ypypfly on youtube - @flying_yoke is his channel
SpikeSpiegeil
I think he saw PAPI lights.
[deleted]
[deleted]
tylerlarson
"runway environment" needs to be visible, which includes the white rabbit lights. They're clipped out of frame.
ignotoCiResto
to be honest, I've noted that even when you record in raw format (I mean no compression) fog is much worse on video. Like, if visibility is 30 meters, on video your visibility is less than 20 meters
evenelectronicbrainpancakecrystalelderly
yeah, I started seeing bits of green around "300" and a taxiway around "200" though the video compression muddles it badly. if the pilot's experienced landing this type at this airport in clear skies, they're not going to be hunting for clues to orient themselves like we are. instead they're going to be confirming that events are still proceeding in a way that matches their mental model, and comparing to their already-briefed decision points to go around.
BigRobbo
I was still watching this thinking to myself.... "Huh pretty sure this is close to illegal for a pilot to do"
That said outside of the US and EU Pilots are known to hotshot more often
TheDildoOfConsequences
This. And it would be a impressively career-limiting move for a pilot to say, "hey, check out me risking 200 passengers' lives and videoing it for the internet".
ZuluThreeZero
If I were feeling uncharitable I would assume that some sort of specialist flying glove he's wearing, which means he may well be the kind of person to do such a thing.
Or maybe it's for RSI or something, in which case I apologise for being so judgemental and assuming he's a tool. 11 years at a major and I've never seen someone wear gloves to fly a commercial jet...
anteyeclimbaxe
Do we ever see the other hand and is that normal?
ZuluThreeZero
Should be covering the levers I think, so yes
kahlas
One day landings similar to this be routine. CAT IIIC exists currently with the ability to autoland the plane with no pilot input and taxi to the gate without being able to see anything. However not enough airports have the needed equipment to allow automatic taxing so in practice CAT IIIC landings aren't approved because you'd need someone to tow the plane off the runway at most airports. I imagine a human eye picked out detail in the rain better than the light saturated sensor on the camera.
IalwaysupvoteKorra
But autoland wouldn't do such strong and rapid inputs, right? It would disengage and force a go-around in this situation. AFAIK autoland is designed for relatively calm weather except for the visibility
InablueMule
Was a recent small plane crash in my area. Low visibility and pilot could have gone to an airport less than 5 minutes away with better landing aids. Too much money and airplane for his ability. 2 facilities. 3mil turboprop aircraft.
gesel
I once flew into nantucket on Cape Air and got out first so had the co-pilot's seat. Maybe 10m visibility, not even runway lights through the fog. When the pilot opened his window to talk to the landing greeter she said "why didn't you turn around, everybody else did?" He said "no fuel."
That was a memorable flight.
DefqonWarrior
Why weren't the lights lit if there was poor visibility? Are the runway lights meant to on constantly or are rhey used depending on the conditions?
gesel
They were lit, the fog was quite dense and so not visible to me at all until just a few seconds before we touched down. I'm fairly sure the Pilot saw clues I couldn't and knew where he was going. This was before GPS was wide-spread, there were no "screens" in the cockpit. The lighthouse light was visible coming in, that's how I knew we were approaching the Island, otherwise just fog and stars to my untrained eye.
thedarkcanuck
There once was a man from Nantucket
michaeloberg
Who's airplane was out of fuel so he said "fuck it"
thedarkcanuck
He grinned with chagrin as he adjusted the trim
QueefSlurper6372
Every time I see a video like this of an airliner landing, I am shocked at how much play there is in the Yoke.
jimhotep
Interia dampens the movement. For example, you are descending in a loaded 737, and when you pull back to flare the aircraft, the time between your motion and the aircraft's response is unexpectedly long because the energy required to lift that much weight makes the aircraft sluggish. What you are seeing are the inputs needed for the pilot to keep the aircraft in its current envelope; they are not a 1-to-1 reaction of the vehicle.
Wonkable
That's the 737. Controls are really loose. The Airbus and Embraersnare much tighter. Any other plane, and you are throwing it around using that much control
makesense
Newer planes also have more modern navigation aids, making a landing like this a little easier to handle as they have a better idea where the beginning of the runway is.
YouSufferWithCognitiveDissonance
737 is old school, fly by cable
myeyesthegogglesdonothing
I had no idea but you're correct!
afterdarkart
I feel like at one point I heard someone say "you're flying the plane 2 moves in advance."
mushuporky
Never let the plane take you somewhere your mind hasn't already been at least five minutes earlier.
GreetingsSirAndOrMaamIAmUsingThisFieldToIntroduceMyselfAscrsklr
Half rates, necessary for precision control. Like setting a low sensitivity setting for a button on your mouse for sniping, then setting it back to high for shoot and run.
cgt9803
At lower speeds like landing you need bigger control surface movements to affect the plane
Thekindofkindlyman
This. Think of riding a bike at top speed vs as slow as you can without falling
0570
Or powersteering in a car
Predacane35
Flying blind ain't no yoke
graehall
They translate to a lot of fine movements over the airframe, think of it like moving your mouse a long distance on low sensitivity
pareidoliaperson
I can change my mouse's sensitivity at a press of a button.
TheFakeRickSanchez
https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1a2M1ZDFvZGp1emdybnBjOHhsaDBmc2h5ZHlraWoxdWdiN2Vvb2M0diZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/dnMwfGJPdsqYEbmrD5/200w.webp
Cptbluebeard7
Congrats, you figured something out that decades worth of engineering and studies failed to realize! We should just control aircraft exactly like a computer is!
pareidoliaperson
Uhmm...I was just bragging about my urkle nomicle vertical mouse with extra buttons. Will ya'll lighten up!
WhoReadsPeoplesUsernamesAnyway
And that's excactly what you wouldn't want to do during landing of a 737 for risk of catastrophic over steering that would likely crash the plan and kill everyone on board. Even though its something that makes you have faster aim playing Fortnight.
pareidoliaperson
That's what I would call a full send 2026!
j4gr
They massacred my boy
GuyWithDog
And I like turtles!
TheFuckYounicorn
I like train