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‘We were coming in sideways’: Footage of airplane landing in Oklahoma goes viral

Posted at 8:44 PM, Mar 24, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-24 22:45:04-04

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A battle between Mother Nature and two pilots trying to land a plane in Oklahoma City was captured on video.

The footage was shot Wednesday by KFOR in Oklahoma and shows strong winds creating some frightening conditions as an aircraft landed. KFOR reports the video has been viewed millions of times since it was posted.

A KFOR helicopter pilot noticed a United Airlines plane preparing to land at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City. The pilots were up against some seriously strong cross winds.

As the plane reached the runway, it started to sway with the wind, and, in the video above, it appears to almost stop and hover as the wind catches the aircraft.

A group of students and teachers on board said it was a flight they won't forget.

“It felt like going back and forth and up and down, a little like a roller coaster," Erica Carey said. “...When you looked out the window, you could tell we were coming in sideways a little bit."

Lisa Toepfer added, “I looked out the window, I could see we were fixing to land, and we were still doing this.”

The plane landed safely. While it appears unusual, other pilots said this type of landing is actually fairly common.

United Airlines said in a statement to KFORthat their pilot did a great job "executing his training and landing the aircraft safely, and we are confident that any of our well-trained pilots would have done the same."