[patton]

The cross wind was not that extreme, from what I see - about 25 degrees, well within tolerance.

But the gusts almost killed them all.

[moehoward]

—”But the gusts almost killed them all.”—

Roger that. Looked to be doable until they were fairly committed to set down.

[SuziQ]

Ted Fujita, for whom the Fujita scale of measuring the destruction levels of tornadoes, was the one who first brought up the idea of micro bursts being the natural mechanism by which some planes can be brought down, even in times of moderate winds. No one believed him, at first, but he proved it.

I was telling one of my older brothers about this. Gerry used to be a pilot, and he recounted having been through one when he was flying for a commercial airline. Thankfully, they were not near the ground at the time, but he said that he was flying along, and suddenly the plane just dropped about 600 feet. They were trying everything to get the plane back up, with no success, then suddenly he said it was like you were in an elevator going right up again. He's thankful that never happened to him on takeoff or landing.