Then he sent Jenniskens figures detailing the address—latitude, longitude and altitude—of the asteroid every six miles en route to Earth, plus its speed and angle of approach.

And to make matters worse for the pilot, as the tips of the rotor blades approach the speed of sound (around 1,200kph at lower altitude temperatures), shock waves produce huge vibrations.

When it is time to land, aircraft usually make a stepped approach to an airport, descending and then maintaining altitude for a while before descending again.