British Airways A320neo THUNDERSTORM Takeoff!!! Nice Côte d’Azur (NCE - LHR)

8/15/24
This was one of the greatest flight crews I have ever had the pleasure of flying with. From the get go they were very communicative about their decision to fly in this weather and not only did they prepare all passengers for what was to ensue, but they also ensured that no one’s travel plans were spoiled with a massive delay all while keeping safety as the undisputed number 1 priority.
It started with a captain’s PA before pushback which let us know that they were aware of the weather, had done all their due diligence, and were fully confident in flying out this morning. ATC had notified them that they were shutting the airport down soon and so our flight crew requested if we could depart before they shut the airport down. ATC granted the request and so we pushed back 10 minutes early to be the last flight out of Nice this morning.
The flight radar showed that we had a vertical speed of more than 3000 fpm immediately after rotation, we never had a vertical speed of less than 2000 fpm under 10,000ft even when lowering the nose to accelerate, and our vertical speed reached as high as 5000 fpm on the climb up to 38,000ft.
After the flight I spoke to the captain and he shared some valuable insights. I asked if the reason the flaps were down for longer than usual was so that they could fly at a slower airspeed to manage turbulence on the departure and he said partially. The other reason was that their angle of attack / rate of climb was simply so great that air speed remained under the clean configuration threshold for longer than with a usual departure. This wasn’t due to significant de-ration of thrust however but rather a priority put on vertical speed, so the low airspeed and consequent longer duration of flap deployment was a result of the seeking of immediate altitude, at the expense of efficiency, engine wear, and airspeed for the first few minutes but critically, with the goal of safety on this flight and comfort amongst the cabin. I asked how much of the departure was hand-flown and he said none. He specifically made it a point to tell pilot flying (the FO) no hand flying after takeoff due to the potential for an engine failure in these conditions and how the autopilot would react to that versus a hand flying pilot. I asked whether it was a TOGA takeoff and he said it was indeed, since safety is the number 1 priority at BA and while their goal is to be safe and efficient, if they have to choose, the choice will be safety 100% of the time. They were expecting windshear in these stormy conditions and therefore used TOGA on the takeoff roll and they also kept a high thrust setting throughout the entire climb to expedite the process of reaching less storm infested air.
A scary one for some passengers onboard but a fabulous display of textbook airmanship from my perspective and a beautiful video resulting from it as well. Storm or no storm, the French Riviera is one beautiful location.
Registration: G-TTNS

[@nipafilms236]

Very intense lightning, cool! Nice video :)

[@Airplanes.24.7]

@@nipafilms236 It was indeed the most intense lightning I’ve experienced. Usually when encountered mid-flight, pilots can navigate around adverse weather. On this occasion we had to take off right into the eye of the storm. An exhilarating takeoff and climb no doubt. Thanks for watching!