my friend is sleeping now so i'm afraid i can't pick his brain any more, but here's what i can recall of his account:

-the flight was around 12 hours (mine from yvr yesterday was 11.5 so the winds must have changed a bit during the last 24 hours)
-came down over siberia (i think they always do this since overflying nk is not an option)
-the descent was very bumpy and many pax pulled out their air sickness bags
-he was watching airshow on approach
-at around 1,000 feet, the engines were turned up and they overflew the airport
-at this point, several people vomited and the trend caught on. he estimates that about 5% lost it (2 in his immediate vacinity) and he was close caving in himself
-the second landing attempt went smoothly (from the south)
-he doesn't recall any announcements being made

that's all i have to report. if i had been on that plane, you can bet that i would have been glued to channel 9 and would therefore provide more info.

i will say that wind direction changes are frequent around here this time of year so i'm not all that surprised. it's been very gusty the past few days and apparently there were sand storms sunday and monday.

btw, it's entirely possible that my friend embellished his story a bit, but i tend to think he didn't because he's not really one for exageration.