Maximum winds?

[Donsa320]

Except for crosswind components (which are aircraft limitiations) do you guys at your airlines have any maximum wind guidelines for takeoff and landing and what are they?

At my pevious employer it was 50kts sustained surface wind.

A long time ago, with no maximum in the specs, I recall operating at MDW with 80kts gusts to 90kts. It was right out of the south and there was a short 18/36 still available then. We used it. This was in a DC-3 in about 1960. Taxiing was the challenge! It took both of us to control the controls.

Back in the USAF, about 1957, I departed either Nagoya or Osaka, Japan (the airports were almost identical) just before a typhoon. Winds had gotten up to about 90kts but right down the runway. This in a C-119.

Wind is what makes 'em fly after all.

DC

 

[LowlyPropCapt]

No such guideline at Piedmont. Landed in ERI once with steady winds in the high forties and gusts in the low sixties.

Believe it or not is was not a bad ride at all. Groundspeed was darn near hover... Slow even for a Dash!

 

[bafanguy]

At the capatains discretion to/ldg operations can be conducted in excess of these numbers. "Guidlines" are the demostrated crosswind numbers,
Of course if anything happens in operations in excess of this questions will be asked

tj

Yes, and this really gets to the heart of the matter and leads to some very interesting discussions. One wants to avoid being a part of something where questions are asked.

I always felt the most hazardous time to operate an airplane was from the time the main gear touched the ground until the main gear left the ground again. When one starts talking about max winds and how they might need to be limited, runway/taxiway condition has to be a part of the discussion.

This leads to winter ops in particular. You have the worst combination of factors...higher winds, degraded runway conditions, and a lack of accurate, timely info. Runway condition reports have a small amount of science to them, but ultimately, the real-world call is subjective and changing over short time periods.

And to further complicate it, getting it stopped on the runway may not be as big a problem as getting to the gate in high winds on taxiways/ramps that probably didn't get as much attention as the runways.

So, the numbers don't begin to tell the whole story. This is something that really didn't get as much attention in training programs as it deserved. The important stuff was learned via OJT. Still, this is a subject where one wants to hear everyone's thoughts and experiences...valuable hangar flying.

 

[atldc9]

At AirTran, 50 knot winds- suspend flight operations. On the 717, engine limit for t/o is 40 knots crosswind component, 10 knot taiwind for anding.

 

[Cardinal]

Man....that is way too much for me to remember.

Just subtract 5 knots every time the braking action gets a notch worse. Is that why you bailed on us? Were ya skeered? Pansy

 

[Beechman]

24kts. is max demon. x-wind and is a comp. limitation in ALL ops. Additionally, we have something like 20 and 15 as limitations if vis is below 4000rvr and the runways are contaminated and or brag less than fair. A good way to manage risk...sure. However, flying into the UP of WI and MI in winter with one runway...umm not very practical or efficent.