I love that approach and wish they used it more often (although I'm sure that would not be very popular among local residents). I went to Mills High School (mentioned in the article) and my parents' house is in the hills above the airport, right about where the planes turn onto a short final. It is indeed pretty dramatic. It seems to me that they used the approach more often in past years. Now it seems to be just a couple of days a year. Either the current crop of airliners are more amenable to crosswind landings than previously, or the noise-abatement lobby has become the tail wagging the dog here. -- Michael C. Berch mcb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx On Jan 17, 2007, at 11:53 AM, Bill Hough wrote: > --- In BATN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "1/14 SMCo. Times" <batn@...> wrote: > > Published Sunday, January 14, 2007, by the San Mateo County Times > > Aerial show > > Column by John Horgan > > When weather conditions are right, unwitting residents of parts of > San Mateo, Burlingame, Hillsborough and Millbrae are in for a > surprise. > > Such an occasion occurred late last week. Stiff wind from the > northeast caused a landing-pattern adjustment at San Francisco > International Airport. > > Jetliners coming into SFO were forced to alter their normal approach > over San Francisco Bay. Instead, for a time, they banked and came in > over Peninsula residential areas and Highway 101 from the southwest. > > As it always is when this dramatic circumstance presents itself, the > sight was rather awesome. > > There is nothing quite like loading your heap with vittles out in > the Albertsons parking lot on Murchison Drive in Millbrae and, looming > right overhead, is a briskly descending Boeing 747 packed with > passengers and crew members. > > The feeling is that the extended landing gear is going to wind up > scraping the roof of the nearby Caltrain/BART terminal across El > Camino Real. You could almost wave to the pilot. > > The big jets put on quite an aerial show. Drivers out on the freeway > who may be unaware of what's up (literally) can become flummoxed. > > When aircraft are honing in on SFO from this angle, there are plenty > of good vantage points for the curious: the Mills High School > football field, the parking lots at Wendy's and Washington Mutual, > the outdoor dining area at In-N-Out.