Christopher Brian Colohan wrote:
DM writes:

Yesterday I saw a cargo jet (a major air express company) come to what
seemed like a dead stop in midair as it was making its ascent. After
about 20 - 30 seconds of hanging without dropping out of the sky, it
continued climbing and apparently did not crash. There's been nothing
about it in the local news but I've still been very concerned. Could
someone here explain how such a thing is possible?

Some details: the temperature was about 50 degrees F, the sky was
mostly clear, and the time was around 0645. I was traveling by car at
about 40 MPH on a street that is parallel to a regular flight
path. From this street it's common to see 3 or 4 planes per minute
either climbing or descending; the airport is about a mile or two away
from this particular street.


One detail you left out -- how windy was it? I'm going to guess it
was a really windy day. If the plane was taking off into a strong
headwind then it would not have to go nearly as fast (relative to the
ground) to stay in the air. The only thing the plane cares about is
how fast it is going relative to the wind (airspeed). You may have
seen a plane which was travelling at a much slower groundspeed than
you are used to seeing, and thought it was almost stopped as a result.

Also, if seems to be windy at ground level where you are, it may be
much windier once you get up above any trees/buildings/etc which only
slow the wind down.

Chris

interesting, but no, it wasn't particularly windy on the ground.

Debbie