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Kai Tak Landing

I don't know what possessed me to watch all these videos of airplanes landing....hang on a minute, I think I remember now....aaahhhh....I was watching the video on the airplane that took off in NY and crash landed into Hudson River. The airplane struck some birdies only minutes after they took off - that incident left them two-engines short. The pilot initially wanted to land in a nearby airport but they decided that they won't be able to make it. As they rounded the corner, the pilot and co-pilot decided that they had to make an emergency landing. And that...they did...in the river. It was a move that probably saved a lot of lives....a hundred-odd people in there. Then I got on to watch this video of a plane landing in Kai Tak airport (the old HK airport) which, I didn't know before this) is so precarious! The pilot has to perform a super-sonic cornering right about 30-40 degrees before alligning the plane with the runway. If they overshot it, they would make to make another circle and if too low, they would crash in nearby high rise buildings. ACK!!! JAPAN AIRLINES: landing in Kai Tak HK The pilot overshot the runway a little because of the strong winds blowing (HK is popular for their winds - trust me, I know it. I believe the winds can blow off buildings, actually) but managed to align the plane before slowing it down a little and try to touch down. But the moment he tries to touch-down, another strong gust of wind blew and he had to do side landing...a pretty long and scary one, I think. Phew! MALAYSIAN AIRLINES landing in Kai Tak HK And then here's another one of MAS, Malaysian Airlines, landing in the same airport. I am unsure as to whether it is common for the pilot to perform such a dramatic cornering before aligning with the runway but this one sure is impressive. This pilot either have been watching F1 the night before or is damn skilled.
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