Wind Conditions Along An Aircraft’s Flight Path

A 3-D hot-wire anemometer has been used to investigate the wind conditions that led to an aircraft crash in the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic in 1996. The aircraft was approaching an airport next to a fjord, with steep mountains on both sides. Under cross-wind conditions, the fjord acts as a cavity and there is often severe turbulence. Measurements along the aircraft’s flight path on a model of the landscape around the airport were made with a Dantec Dynamics StreamLine CTA system.