Dutch roll

Dutch roll is what happens when something big and heavy like a plane gets rocked back and forth in the air.

Imagine you're on a swingset being pushed by someone. If they push you evenly on both sides, you swing back and forth steadily. But if they push harder on one side than the other, you start to swing back and forth at a funny angle.

A plane can be kind of like that. Sometimes it gets pushed by the wind or experiences other forces that make it wiggle back and forth. But planes are much bigger and heavier than kids on swings, so when they have these wiggles, it's called a dutch roll.

It's called a dutch roll because it looks kind of like a rolling motion that someone would do when dancing the Dutch version of a polka.

When a plane is experiencing a dutch roll, it can be really tough for the pilot to control the plane. It's like trying to walk on a balance beam when someone is shaking it back and forth. That's why planes have special systems and controls to try to prevent dutch rolls from happening.