I would say gusty crosswinds.... If you have a steady crosswind you can pretty much hold a steady correction in and then straighten up at the very end. There is a video of a 747 coming in at an extreme crab into the wind landing in Hong Kong years ago that illustrates this well. Or maybe the guy just doesn't have good hands
Since Narita (where I presume this was) is famous for crosswinds, that was probably part of the answer, but what went on after initial touchdown seemed to have some pilot-induced oscillation, perhaps?
Western Global Airlines -400BCF https://www.planespotters.net/airframe/Boeing/747/N356KD-Western-Global-Airlines/17p8hxeK
KAL 747 at Kai Tak. (Poor quality) Almost greased #1 engine but still made a smooth touchdown. Here it is from another angle. (Better quality) Even though he was off center line he still set it down nice.
Kai Tak was crazy...I think they lost a brand new 747-400 a few years before it closed. It went into the bay. We can expect more of this in the USA as the FAA loves only east west runways at the larger airports now.
Not necessarily only east-west; "one-direction" would be more correct. Consider airports like SEA or MKE which are north-south.
True, but the newer reconfigurations are mostly east west. They seem to think cross winds are not a problem ever because the aircraft are so big now
Appears he just overshot the turn to final. Very little crosswind as evidenced by the windsock in the first vid. Actually maybe a little tailwind, which would help explain the overshoot.
As a huge fan of "Blake's 7," I'd go with their standard report back to the ship after a teleport: "Down, and safe." After all, that's what matters, right?
Thanks, Lou,for the great videos of the 747 landings. Really interesting to see the vast amount of physics that are taking place before and after touch down. And the responses of the pilot to control so much mass that is trying to move everywhere except straight down the runway. Hats off to you guys, monstrous job that you have.
Interesting to see the ground spoilers extending and retracting on the left wing as the left mains load and unload. This is a question for Lou with the spoilers and reversers tied into the WOW (Weight On Wheels) switches on the mains, are the reversers trying to open and close as well as the spoilers are on a landing like this on the #1 and #2 engines?
my ,02... driver had the engines carrying too much power... the plane stopped decent and floated for a bit... pilot was not committed to land at that point ... my guess is rookie pilot taking the landing... in conditions like that the engines need to be spooled a bit for better response should more power be needed... rocking between mains indicates, the plane was trying to fly in the gusts before speed was bled off and landing gear firmly planted... it is difficult to stay ahead of the plane and land in demanding conditions like that