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So what we‘ve just witnessed in the film was a so called runway change
A runway change is always an operational disruption. It is always better to keep the direction
steady as throughput is maximized that way.
So why do we change? The main factor here is the wind. As a rule, take-offs and landings
have to be against the wind. It‘s like trying to fly a kite - do it down the wind and you
will utterly fail. Do it against the wind and it will support you so you don‘t have
to run and the dragon will climb very fast. It‘s the same with aeroplanes.
The original plan was to direct Condor 957, coming from southwest, eastwards over the
city of Munich, have it turn and fly to the airport against the wind.
In this case, we decided to turn the runway while Condor 597 had already overflown Munich
and been parallel to the runway. Thus, its crew had to make a left turn to fly westwards,
make a right turn and enter the approach to the southern runways 08R direction. 08 is
derived from the wind rose meaning an approach to 080 degrees.
In the beginning, the Instrument Landing System was not yet available. The Instrument Landing
Systems consists of two components, which are two electronic antenna rays. One of them
is located at the end of the runway giving directional information, the other at the
beginning of the runway giving altitude information, so that if both are combined the aircraft
is properly guided to the beginning of the runway in both the right direction and altitude.
But: the Instrument Landing System can only be operational for one direction of the runway
at a time, as they would mutually interfere with each other.
This is why the crew had to start with a so called NDB approach. The NDB is an undirected
radio beacon. It works somewhat like a radio transmitter, sending radio waves into every
direction.
The pilot can fly towards this beacon, overfly it and then depart using the opposed directional
information.
A rather complicated means of navigation compared to an ILS approach.
About 2 or 3 minutes prior to landing, we were able to once again offer the Instrument
Landing System.
Captain: Alright I‘m entering the ILS information for you.
First Officer: Yea.
Captain: Okay?
First Officer: Okay.
The crew accepted the offer because of the higher precision of the ILS, so that within
no time the crew was able to successfully land on runway 08R.
What I liked the most was the optimal interaction of Captain and First Officer. He supported
her perfectly in every situation of the approach. I would have enjoyed staying in the cockpit
on this flight.