In article ,
Brad Allen wrote:

Why would a plane do such a maneuver?

The first example sounds like S-turns for spacing. It is very hard
to judge bank angles from the ground, and I'd be surprised if it
was even as much as 30 degrees.

What is the experience of those on the plane?

If it was a 50+ degree bank, it would definitely be an exciting
ride. Since it was much less then that, the passengers might not
have even noticed anything out of the ordinary. If it was FedEx,
the boxes don't care. The FedEx flights often will maneuver more
aggressively then a passenger jet would, but still no where near
the 50+ degrees you claim.

How safe is such a maneuver?

The planes landed safely, didn't they? The planes can handle alot more
then the passengers.

If you want to try and track which airlines were involved, try this
website: http://www4.passur.com/sjc.html

John
--
John Clear - http://www.clear-prop.org/