A corkscrew landing (also spiral landing)
is a method of
landing
Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown" or ...
an aircraft that is intended to minimize the risk of the aircraft being hit by anti-aircraft fire from the ground on its way to a destination airport. Instead of slow descent towards the airport, in a corkscrew landing the aircraft is positioned at high altitude above the airport, then descends rapidly in a spiral. The maneuver is typically performed by pilots of military aircraft to avoid
surface-to-air missiles.
Rationale
The purpose of a corkscrew landing is to minimize the chance of an aircraft being struck by ground fire such as
surface-to-air missiles as it lands.
Technique
A corkscrew landing involves positioning the aircraft over the landing site at altitude, then descending in a steeply
banked spiral path.
This happens when the pilot of the aircraft bends the wings from their normal horizontal position, causing them to slice through the air going downwards. The pilot has to then straighten out the wings before the aircraft hits the ground, getting them back into the normal horizontal position. The aircraft's rate of descension suddenly falls and it touches down on a pad/runway.
History
The corkscrew landing maneuver has been reported as being performed in the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
.
It has also become the standard method of landing by airlines flying into
Baghdad International Airport
Baghdad International Airport , previously Saddam International Airport ( ar, مطار بغداد الدولي, Maṭār Baġdād ad-Dawaliyy) is Iraq's largest international airport, located in a suburb about west of downtown Baghdad in the ...
after a DHL cargo aircraft was
struck and nearly destroyed by a surface-to-air missile during takeoff in November 2003.
References
https://www.wkrn.com/news/what-is-a-corkscrew-landing-military-planes-taking-evasive-measures-at-kabul-airport/
Flight phases
Types of landing
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