Rainy Cockpit Video Landing Hong Kong Kai Tak (1998) 

My Dad Mike Giles is the Captain in this video and still flying and examining / instructing pilots at the young age of 80…. So very proud of his amazing career.

take a right turn or it will be checkmate for you!

i will never get tired of watching this approach

0:21 Do all cockpit warning alarms sound like arcade games from the 1980's?

He’s making standard callouts, here at 500 feet above touchdown zone elevation regarding the aircraft’s speed, specifically speed above planned approach speed (“Plus ten, plus five," etc), and the sink rate (“Seven fifty” means sinking at 750 feet per minute). Ideally pilots hand-flying an ILS/IGS approach do everything possible to be “On speed, on sink”, during the last 1000 feet prior to touchdown. The callouts aid in a pilot’s awareness of his and the plane’s performance.

I think a few conspiracy theorists need to see this video. Makes landing into a huge skyscraper seem pretty doable.

Funny how when pilots start talking on these boards how much better the grammar and verbal skills are. It's refreshing.

"with the wipers off there's a speed gain of 10 kts" cracking jokes after such a landing, priceless!

It's Cathay Pacific.

I miss the old Airport....

Thanks for all your kind remarks. All in a day's work! Mike Giles Captain flying that approach, signing off but still training and examining at 79.

I landed into this airport once and only once in 1997. It was quite dramatic to watch the buildings getting closer and closer as the plane descended. One could see curtains and small objects like cans of kitchen cleansers in the windows. I wondered just when the thing would finally land. At the very last moment, the plane dipped to the side (described in Wikipedia as the "Kai Tak Heart Attack") one or two seconds before hitting the runway. For a brief moment I thought I was dead for sure. What an experience!

Brilliant flying. These guys are totally pro. Really fun to watch, thanks for the post! For those asking, A/P is disengaged at 0:21

Wow, I've never been inside an airline cockpit like that before. Awesome video! Incredible scenery! Tough approach, perfect landing!

Awesome landing if I've ever seen one! For better or worse, Kai Tak is no longer there to test the pilots' true skills, but these guys really did an impressive job; looking at this video one would actually believe that the Runway 13 approach was no big deal... Respect!

14 years from today, that airport was taken down, but the glory of the checkerboard will remain!

Landed at Kai Tak in 1994 & 95. Well, I was sitting in the back (Air France 747) but it was still an experience. There always seemed to be cloud on top of the rock of Hong Kong Island. The most prestigious houses were up there, but they were living in clouds; half the time you couldn't see out and you needed dehumidifiers in every room, running all the time. If anyone in HK reads this (if you're still allowed to access youtube...) it would be interesting to know what it's like now.

Kai Tak was one of the most difficult airport to land on until 1998 when they opened Chap Lap Kok. With multiple runways. Awsome airport with awesome facilities. I live in Hong Kong

First time I saw this video is about 10 years ago .the same old video with an cool rocks music as the bgm.

I swear that one of the pilots is one of my dads old friends Tim... He now sits on the Cathay selection board and is in management because a medical problem deemed him unfit to pilot aircraft.. :) in a year or two I'll be going over to apply for cathays cadet scheme :D can't wait!