An Aer Lingus jet was filmed approaching Dublin Airport nearly sideways in strong crosswinds as Storm Dave brought disruptive winds over the Easter bank holiday weekend. The footage emerged as Dublin Airport recorded significant operational disruption, including 53 go-arounds, 13 diversions, and 17 cancellations, according to a daa spokesperson. Beyond aviation, roughly 18,000 homes lost power across Ireland, and public transport services faced potential disruption under a Status Yellow wind and rain warning referenced in a Transport for Ireland advisory that ran into the early hours of Sunday.
What is verified so far
The storm itself carries an official name. The UK Met Office named Storm Dave ahead of the Easter weekend, with its Deputy Chief Forecaster issuing guidance warning of sustained gusts of 50 to 60 mph widely, and higher speeds in exposed locations such as coastal areas and airport approaches. The forecasts broadly aligned with the disruptive conditions reported over the weekend. A Met Eireann forecaster separately warned that wind speeds could exceed 100 km/h in parts of Ireland, according to Irish Independent reporting on the airport disruptions.
The sideways approach itself was captured on video and widely circulated. Footage showed a plane fighting crosswinds as it neared the Dublin Airport runway at a sharp crab angle, a technique pilots use to maintain alignment with the centreline while compensating for lateral wind forces. That footage was reported by Sky News, which also confirmed broader flight disruptions including cancellations at the airport.
The operational toll at Dublin Airport is well documented through a named spokesperson. A daa spokesperson stated that storm conditions produced 53 go-arounds and 13 diversions. Go-arounds occur when a pilot aborts a landing attempt, typically because wind conditions at the decision point make a safe touchdown unlikely. Thirteen of those aborted approaches led to diversions to other airports, with Shannon Airport absorbing redirected traffic. Seventeen flights were cancelled outright.
The disruption extended well beyond aviation. Around 18,000 people lost power as the storm swept through, and Transport for Ireland issued advisories warning of possible public transport disruption under the Status Yellow wind and rain warning. The advisory said the Status Yellow wind and rain warning was in effect from 13:00 on Saturday to 02:00 on Sunday, covering the peak travel window for Easter holiday departures and returns.
What remains uncertain
Several key details about the sideways approach remain unconfirmed. No statement from Aer Lingus or the flight crew has surfaced to describe the specific conditions they faced during the approach. The aircraft type, flight number, and origin airport have not been publicly identified through official channels. The footage, while striking, does not by itself confirm the exact wind speed at the moment of approach or how close the aircraft came to its crosswind operating limits.
Dublin Airport’s air traffic control has not released localized wind readings from the time of the incident. The daa spokesperson’s figures of 53 go-arounds and 13 diversions describe the full day’s disruption, but it is unclear how many of those events involved Aer Lingus flights specifically, or whether the filmed approach resulted in a successful landing or a go-around. The Met Eireann forecast referenced gusts exceeding 100 km/h as an expectation rather than a confirmed measurement at the airport itself. Actual recorded gusts at the runway threshold during the filmed approach have not been disclosed.
Passenger accounts are also absent from the verified record. While 17 cancellations and 13 diversions affected thousands of travelers, no direct statements from passengers on affected flights have been reported in the available sourcing. The scale of delays, rebooking challenges, and knock-on effects for Sunday travel are not yet quantified.
How to read the evidence
The strongest evidence in this story comes from two categories: official meteorological warnings and named institutional spokespeople. The Met Office warnings and the daa spokesperson’s operational figures represent primary, on-the-record data. These are the claims readers can treat with the highest confidence. The Met Office’s forecast of 50 to 60 mph gusts widely, issued before the storm hit, aligns with the disruption that followed, lending credibility to the broader narrative.
The video footage occupies a different evidentiary tier. It is visually compelling and consistent with the reported conditions, but it functions as illustration rather than measurement. A plane approaching at a crab angle does not, by itself, tell viewers how fast the crosswind was blowing or how much margin the crew had before reaching the aircraft’s certified crosswind limit. Crosswind landings are a routine part of pilot training, and crab approaches are standard technique. What made this one notable was the severity of the angle, which suggests conditions near the upper end of what commercial aircraft are designed to handle.
The 53 go-around figure deserves particular attention. A total of 53 go-arounds in a single day indicates unusually challenging operating conditions at the airport compared with normal operations. A count of 53 suggests that pilots were repeatedly attempting approaches and finding conditions at the decision altitude too dangerous to continue. This figure, sourced to the daa spokesperson, is the single strongest indicator of how extreme conditions were at the airport, more telling than any individual video clip.
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*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
