Airbus A320 pilots' view ILS Approach CAT III LOWW-VIE in bad weather

Watch an Airbus 320 perform a CAT III autoland approach procedure at Vienna Airport Runway 29. Listen to ATC and pilot communication, enjoy the point of view as if YOU were one of the pilots. Lowest minimum on A320 is 75m RVR, NO DH.
© airplaneTVoriginal

[@hattrickster33]

They should classify this as a "can't see shit" approach

[@felobatirmoheb4884]

Css, nice

[@kslvlkdfhkvhkfviwehbhjhj]

ATC: Cleared for CSS landing on runway two-niner.

[@ivanvrabel8489]

I mercy of instruments

[@justme5578]

I agree!

[@Pilot.0101]

Aaaah, the old CSS approach 😉

[@blancolirio]

The end of the video is where the REAL work begins....finding the gate in that muck.

[@apieceofdirt4681]

Dang. Now that's trusting your instruments.

[@ZicajosProductions]

apiece ofdirt There’s an element of trusting the instruments, but the pilots closely monitor them should something go wrong. The instruments are doing a lot of work but pilots try not to get too complacent in always trusting them.

[@ATPlays]

Junior Thing is pilot’s are such experts at what they do, if you were an actual pilot and trained i doubt you would

[@stevenalderley9036]

@Junior A cringe? You mean relief?

[@cmdmd]

If you do not train yourself to trust your instruments, you’d crash in about 178 seconds. Look up “178 seconds to live”.

[@sebastianlabusch465]

Instruments can fail. What you are trusting here is redundancy.

[@333crypta]

Now this is zero visibility.

[@Airplane_TV]

+333crypta not quite, we are authorized to land down to 75m RVR. And then the biggest challenge is to find the way to the parking position..

[@333crypta]

wow, happy flying.

[@rimboltjaxt5603]

+AirplaneTVcom lol I never thought about that! Of course there are dozens of nav aids to get you on the runway nice and safe, but what about from the runway to the gate? Interesting thought. That what I love about the internet. I learn something every time I am on it.

[@sonnyburnett8725]

Rimbolt Jaxt , What gets you to the gate?....... Paint.

[@EatMyPropwash]

Sonny Burnett low VI's taxi diagrams called SMGCS. Depending on the actual VI's, the taxi route is already preselected and ground will say "taxi to spot 6 report clear of x runway".

[@TigerTiger-wf7xq]

That was stunning. I can't imagine landing with no visibility until the landing lights are seen at two hundred feet. My respect to those in the cockpit.

[@terriecotham1567]

Made me nerves just watching and those approach light's never looked so good

[@rykehuss3435]

Its all automatic. You can hear they disengage the autopilot after they have already landed. Their job essentially is to keep cool.

[@9718097952]

Also to autopilot

[@Jjer.z]

my guy, respect to the autopilot

[@amir.0861]

@@rykehuss3435 yes but you have to be very experienced and mentally skilled to put your trust in a 200+ ton vehicle flying on its own. Pilots rarely use autopilot when landing or taking off so there is much skill needed.

[@AlexanderMcAllister]

A common misconception about the autoland procedure is that the pilots simply "sit back and watch it all happen" without any input whatsoever, which is not the case at all. While they may not be physically manipulating the primary flight controls (elevator/aileron/rudder), they are still monitoring the approach and manually operating everything else, including the flaps, landing gear, spoiler arming, and retarding the thrust levers during the flare. They are also watching for any deviations from the safe approach path and airspeed, ready to initiate a go-around/missed approach if it all starts going wrong. The autopilot certainly isn't 100% fool proof and must be treated with great respect and without complacency. Also, to all those people saying the conditions weren't CAT III, and that an autoland wasn't required: a valid conclusion of the actual prevailing conditions cannot be drawn from just watching the video. The ATIS at the time most likely advised that conditions were dropping below CAT I, meaning it would be advisable to use the aircraft's autoland system in anticipation of the conditions REDUCING BELOW the minimums required for a manual landing. After all, that's what this system is there for - to provide a safe method of landing the aircraft in very poor visibility :) An excellent and very informative video!

[@grazielecarvalho4792]

Alexander McAllister u dont say...

[@rojamb2012]

Also, Boeing has the same technology which is used quite often as well.

[@relaxsleepheal]

What mechanism does auto-pilot system use to find and land the airplane exactly on the runway in no visibility?

[@matevzkramar]

amaster87 You might know, but you are not alone on youtube, you know that smartass.. there are many people who don’t know half as much as you do, so show at least some respect to Alexander for explaining it.

[@Trollzzofficial]

A lot... There is beacon shooting to the sky and it uses that and some other parts.

[@Shotsmoky]

Of all the CAT III approaches on Ytube. This one's the best. Thanks for posting.

[@Airplane_TV]

Thanks! “One day” I’ll finally upload another video with less visibility…

[@Michaelgaertner]

I´ve had that experience on 16th of dec 2022 on flight EW 9558, TFS to DUS, arriving at 5:20 p.m. The captain told to passengers already 1 hour before landing about a difficult landing because of extreme bad weather situation in DUS. My seat in A320 was Window 9A. 2 minutes before landing the aircraft was diving into the clouds - I could see landinglights exactly in the moment the aircraft touched the ground - for me amazing. Reducing of speed was normal. At all moments of this approach I felt safe. Thank You to the very good crew!

[@cleandiaper]

AWESOME...flying blind. The technology is amazing.

[@Airplane_TV]

Yes it is.. It needs a lot of trust in the technology but it's accuracy is amazing every time.

[@kdta76]

Not flying bling. They can't see, but they know exactly where they are in respect to the airport.

[@nunugod4327]

Its not blind exacly, but zero insight

[@sanjaymahabir1386]

@@Airplane_TV you mean Thrust in the technology :)

[@jimbo029]

Usually the autopilot is engaged soon after takeoff and remains engaged until just before landing. (After landing in this case because it was in autoland mode).

[@alltheway5173]

I can not explain the good feeling you have when you punch out and see those beautiful colorful runway lights.

[@mrcannotfindaname]

Man, you got to admire the modern technology for both ILS and AP.

[@Airplane_TV]

Yes and no: the computing power of an ordinary iPhone probably surpasses all computers and processors built into a modern airliner. But the important topic is "reliability". While I appreciate all the possibilites and apps of an iPhone I certainly would not want to have my life depend on it...

[@Airplane_TV]

Feyg Aeckaunt the latest FMGC is praised for it's higher memory capacity of .. 5 Megabyte. I'd guess I'm right ;-)

[@Airplane_TV]

Feyg Aeckaunt okay, regarding computing power: the latest release offers already 32 bit processors..

[@Kiwuser]

AirplanetvCOM I don't think you require that much processing power for the ILS system anyway, once the ILS is established, the computer just tells the autopilot what way to turn to maintain the centerline

[@Kiwuser]

If you combined them, yes, but I think each screen is a separate computer unit that streams movies etc from a central server (judging by how they can reboot an individual screen if something goes wrong), I was just making a link to the original comment, but you make a good point.

[@avamendez1272]

the sensation of landing in these conditions is something you have to experience up front to fully understand

[@vondahe]

I *know* commercial pilots are trained to do this but I will never stop being in awe. It’s just magic!

[@CocoEspada]

That was a phenomenal display of the sync between pilot and plane. Instruments and crosschecks. Beautiful. Well done.

[@chuckkirkpatrick6712]

I'm an instrument rated pilot and fully understand all this....but it still blows my mind every time I see it.

[@stonesofvenice]

Was on a plane landing in Amsterdam on a day exactly like this once, it was so scary! I thought it would be impossible to land...technology and pilots are awesome.

[@Helldriver1964]

Unglaublich ..... Autofahren im Nebel ist schon eine Kunst aber das hier toppt das Ganze noch. Perfekte Landung!!!

[@deepakgm7235]

Just incredible the way lights show up when it reaches just 200 feet. A completely auto pilot controlled landing.

[@michaelsabella5924]

without auto-pilot landing could be difficult it seems, esp since the runway didnt appear till 200ft above surface, scary, leaves no room for error, great video - thanks

[@Airplane_TV]

You are right.

[@noahwilliams8918]

Well done crew, and well done A320 engineers! Very impressive, the lack of any 🔊 Minimums 🔊!

[@jimbo029]

Zero/Zero....yahoo!!

[@abbieamavi]

*this makes me admire ILS so much more*

[@Mateus01234]

2:57 I feel like Stephen hawking is mad at me

[@mrjpb23]

Boeing's voices are decidedly more pleasant.

[@Airplane_TV]

Actually they care not meant to be "pleasant", but raise your attention. Think of Neil Diamond singing an important warning...

[@nexusproductions2064]

he died

[@isanarditama]

Did it said retard? 😀

[@Derhinterfrager]

Thanks for the upload. Great Clip !

[@pawelkuler4171]

that illusion "that You are too high"

[@flyingcatsofthesalishsea.]

"How low can you go" thank's Barnes Wallace...for making air travel safe and very exciting to watch...I wonder what his thought's would be after watching a vid like this one?....thank's for the upload and many thank's to the many who make it happen!..Nice landing!..."auto land"...

[@thetowndrunk988]

I know this is quite old, but still props for having one of the best pea soup landing videos on KZbin. Love it

[@sergiooliveira7226]

What a display of high tecnology. Simply amazing.

[@missymissy8534]

CAT 111 Excellent Captain!! Thanks for sharing video

[@Flakfire]

wow no need for the plane to call the pilots names right before landing

[@Pilot.0101]

They used auto land, they're lucky the auto pilot didn't shout out "pussies" as well 😂

[@AviationHubOfficial]

Great vid, thanks for sharing! I can't imagine the tension in the cockpit during at CAT III

[@jimbo029]

Tension? I think a better word would be "concentration" or "focus". Theses pilots have done this hundreds of times. No tension. Concentration.

[@rockyjetproject1345]

0:16 I was flying a 737-600 PMDG (P3D) into KHRL at night and it was very foggy and low clouds. Using Precipit FX 737 package, i was able to experience that. The lights hitting the fog and clouds, strobe lights reflecting off them also. It was a real treat. Great video. Regards, from the USA.

[@oscardp]

Incredible and professionalism by pilots and controllers.

[@maxim9280]

Whenever the plane doesn't crash it's amazing.

[@PilotDaveAviation]

I know everyone watching was on the edge of their seat ! Holly, that's a CAT III landing with white knuckles.... that was great team work !!

[@jwj410]

"Sir the auto-landing computer has failed" "Fuck..have to wing it then"

[@aviatorsdream4686]

spasman that's why they have 2 auto pilots

[@talapino4197]

just follow the glide sloape

[@juancarlosperezsandoval5706]

Thanks dear ILS , gracias querido ILS , "QUE SERÍA SIN USTED HE HE ."

[@zzodr]

A/P Disc Warning is so much nicer in the Airbus than the 737.

[@julians9362]

zzodr it isnt supposed to be nice its meant to might even wake up somebody if needed

[@JIMJAMSC]

I actually read a journal on the science of cockpit voices and how they are picked according how the brain responded. One experiment they actually used the fighter pilot's mothers voice on the most urgent of warnings and found they were responded to much faster and urgently. Yeah I was in a FBO and bored....

[@estroncio64]

That's my ringtone :P

[@GabrielSantos-dy6gb]

Even the callouts are nicer

[@JoshuaPenaranda]

JIMJAMSC Can you give the link?

[@chinitos74]

amazing how technology has made it possible!

[@MedyoBoi]

Congratulations, Chief Pilo!

[@dog2.051]

2:45 landing into heaven.

[@Airplane_TV]

@starjack24: That depends: during an autoland approach with NO decision height "automatic rollout" is required, thus the autopilot must remain on until the aircraft reaches taxi speed, until that time the autopilot also maintains runway centerline. During autoland approach with "manual rollout" the a/p has to be switched off after mainwheel touchdown and the captain needs to maintain runway centerline.

[@kaktus018]

Does an ILS approach with no decision height exist? I thought with a CAT 3 approach it is at min. 50 ft AGL. As far as I know, the AP disconnects as soon as you make any rudder or tiller inputs.

[@Airplane_TV]

Of course there are lower minimums than CAT IIIa (50ft), as stated the lowest is 0ft ("no") decision height. During an autoland approach and the automatic rollout you DON'T make ANY inputs with rudder/sidestick/tiller for the reason you mentioned.

[@rickrodrigues2219]

***** All Cat III approaches have zero decision height but they are differentiated by the suffix a,b or c denoting the Runway Visual Range (RVR) limits. Cat IIIb being the lowest visibility...& I'm guessing RVR 100' - 150'? These approaches are made during extreme low ceiling/visibility conditions & are not available at all airports. The aircraft must also be equipped (3AP) & signed out to perform the approach. Generally Cat I & II are more the norm...most airports.

[@Airplane_TV]

That's not true: No DH= RVR 75m 20' DH=RVR 150m 50' DH=RVR 200m All of these are CAT III with automatic landing, only the lowest minimum also requires also automatic roll-out.

[@rickrodrigues2219]

+AirplanetvCOM Thanks for the correction. However this is a sticky subject among pilots & lots of "ambiguity" by the regulatory authorities (ICAO/FAA/JAA) with respect to CAT III minima. Airbus - CAT I/CAT III Operations. www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/1480.pdf For CAT III operations, the JAA defines Decision Height. "Decision height is the wheel height above the runway elevation by which a go-around must be initiated 'unless' adequate visual reference has been established with the aircraft position and approach path being assessed as satisfactory to continue the approach and landing in safety (JAA)." The critical element for CAT III approaches is "visibility"...cloud ceiling is actually a non issue. It means - providing the visibility meets the RVR requirements for that particular CAT III A,B or C approach & the aircraft/crew are suitably certified for the type of approach, an approach & landing can be initiated. Interpretation for CAT IIIA means when the aircraft is at RA = 30m you should have not less than 200m (RVR) of forward visibility or CAT IIIB, not less than 50m (RVR) of forward visibility to legally & safely complete the landing. Unfortunately the CAT III definitions are quite ambiguous...read on. 2.2.1 CAT III A ICAO and FAA definition A category III A approach is a precision instrument approach and landing with "no decision height" or a decision height lower than 100ft (30m) and a runway visual range not less than RVR700ft (RVR200m). Here is the "ambiguity"! Quote: "....no decision height or a decision height lower than 100ft (30m).....etc..." unquote. Interpretation? "no decision height" means zero feet (0")! Or...lower than 100ft. could mean "100', 99', 98'.......5', 4', 3', 2', 1', 0'......no decision height! Ambiguous!? CAT III B similar interpretation: No DH or DH lower than 50' ....meaning 50',49', 48'....3',2'.1',0'!

[@iasmind65]

All I am amazed by sheer calmness of the pilots.

[@aimanjarrar8990]

I may or may not have been screaming "GO AROUND. GO AROUND DAMN IT" at the 300 callout. LOL.

[@michoelpanzok7803]

Beautiful approach lights!!

[@Lycoming320]

Just got a briefing on the 787 instrumentation....fantastic.

[@9HighFlyer9]

Nice thing about those foggy low ceiling nights. Never a xwind.

[@Hullspeed]

That's mindboggling.

[@scofer88]

I remember the last time I had the opportunity to fly (or rather watch as three autopilots controlled) the A310-600RR which actually the simulator during training aCAT III C autopilot approach and landing. Since therunway edge lights are 200 in seperation We would see three lights down. I miss it so much.

[@DOLRED]

Great video to enlighten KZbin viewers. Auto Land not much of a big deal now, but 45 years ago, the only large commercial jet with Auto Land was the then new Lockheed L-1011. The L-1011 was one of 3 Wide Body Jets of the day. It got a rough start with the Crash of Eastern Flight 401 in December 1972 (The aircraft involved was just months old). Flight 401 made famous by its aftermath of reported "Ghosts." A movie was produced starring Ernest Borgnine as the Captain of the flight. Eastern was besieged by so many stories about the ghosts, Frank Borman, its CEO and former astronaut, made a public statement denying the stories were true.

[@nicholascagezinho1505]

Absolutely amazing.

[@vicwiseman6038]

Wow, this is amazing! I love technology!

[@alltheway5173]

I fly and it still amazes me. Even how a plane can fly. Just amazing.

[@JoseReyes-dh2eb]

very well executed

[@alonh1809]

watching this makes me so happy im going for my private... what a cool job

[@ciprianchirilov1039]

What an amazing piece of kit the autopilot is.

[@yegfreethinker]

Seeing those beautiful jewels of landing lights come out of middle of nowhere reminds me why I fell in love with flying. In flying almost everything is drenched in elegance but filled with a lot of meaning; maybe I'm just an airplane nerd or maybe it's time to go to bed. lol. It's amazing we human-beings have learned to fly even though we were never meant to.

[@Quadraxon]

Is he playing guitar hero at 2:40?

[@daddyleon]

lol, clever... very clever.

[@RenanMandelo]

kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

[@astudentpilotlife]

LMAO!SMART

[@nothinghere8910]

kkkkkkkk nice

[@mitsuqxo]

Ahhhh

[@edwinjrpinney4651]

That was AMAZING. The trust the Pilots had to put into the plane and instrument Gauges. Nothing was in sight till 500 feet. Good Job. I would hire them both to become my "Permanent" Pilots whenever I fly.

[@JuanVanSteyvoort]

fantastic ILS approach : they're in heavy clouds. They don't see nothing, and when the clouds vanish, thyey are perfectly aligned on the track lights... Great pilots make great landings... :-)

[@TeanoZ]

Fabulous flying!

[@Airplane_TV]

Well.. It's the autopilot system in this case, but still it's fabulous ;-)..

[@aitordg1]

Very good shot with dense fog👏🏼👏🏼

[@Chikyel]

Amazing, thanks for sharing it.

[@highflyingnote]

That is truly amazing!

[@Bergkraxler]

Super Landung! Mehr Videos bitte!

[@user32455]

made me teary eyed, the science behind this is ridonkulous

[@janlllsobieski264]

Amazing view, nice landing 👍

[@lauragadille3384]

Awesome job!!

[@LucasZamonerBrandini]

Great video dude!!!!

[@strangesmile7801]

Great Job Guys !!!

[@Flightsworldwidevideos]

great video!!

[@folkerseebacher1978]

The capital of my country. Woww this Austrian Pilots are amazing

[@paco69741]

Wow that's basically putting your life in the instruments. Nice landing very nice

[@FlyByPC]

"We found the runway -- now to find the gate!"

[@TriggerWarner]

Great job

[@ThatWasLoud]

This is incredible

[@MostPowerfulPMofIndia]

That is frightening. Flying with no visibility. That too at night time. Thats why pilots are great. I would be praying all the time in such a flight

[@bjarniolafsson3488]

Very professional

[@Mr._POV_]

The Airbus AP is almost a Master Piece.

[@thulfiqarallebnani9420]

even the Boeing AP!

[@doncrawford1255]

Amazing. Better them than me. Outstanding.

[@AbhiKohli]

Great insight.

[@AviatorMark]

Wow, incredible!

[@loscantos]

fantastic auto land!!

[@fredsalfa]

That is incredible

[@atthesametime2689]

It was satisfying to hear in the end that it was the autopilot mode going on

[@ChannelReuploads9451]

Chirp Chirp Chirp (The noise) is the autopilot disconnecting. ("Autopilot comes off", Chirp Chirp Chirp).

[@TheGreeneyes777]

I don't do fear very well! But they handled that beautifully, nice job

[@walterlira1588]

Excelent lading. Congratulations.

[@heergruppenfuhrer]

thanks to inventer of the ILS, it is really helpfull in a dense foggy nite landing

[@pietromastellaro1662]

Fantastico atterraggio 👌👏

[@alexrizzo]

Fantastic!

[@oscarernesto6384]

The weather seems for CAT II , not for CATIIIB however, this guys did a splendid job

[@RobCLynch]

Landed at Gatwick October 2015 in bad fog. We had no idea that hundreds of flights had been cancelled or delayed and I didn't think it was possible to land. Looking out of the window, we just saw white cloud and nothing else. I assume that our 777 had some sort of automation that enabled us to tackle the conditions. We were placed in a holding pattern for 30 minutes and knowing that we were seconds from landing was quite nervy - because we couldn't brace for touchdown by looking out of the window. Even after landing, we had to wait for an hour on the taxi lane, because there were no vacant gates. Those pilots must have nerves of steel.

[@rzero21]

beautiful

[@keyvanentezari466]

like...good job!

[@kameshnatarajan7735]

Thanks for the technology.

[@PradeepYadav-xu4tp]

Perfect landing 👍🙌👌👍👍👍

[@venkatraman4608]

Landed amazing with auto pilot mode.... Technology rules the world .

[@suec6311]

Amazing

[@petten33]

These pilots are so frigging cool!

[@jc4416]

Nice job

[@richardgonzales9564]

Gud ser, safety first

[@dansclassics]

Impressive; I kept thinking about Die Hard 2 though where the changed the ILS 200 feet below the runway.