What is cross wind landing on an airplane?

Question

and how often do they do it?

Answer 1

Airports are built so that runways are parallel to the prevailing wind for that area.  Under normal conditions this means that airplanes will take off into the prevailing wind (to generate the greatest lift in order for them to get off the ground quickly) and land into the prevailing wind (to generate the greatest lift in order to allow the plane to fly as slow as possible).  Very often mother nature doesn't cooperate and the wind comes from a different direction.  This requires pilots to compensate for the wind by dipping their wing and thus turning the aircraft into the cross wind in order to land in the center of the runway.  This is often referred to as "crabbing" in pilot speak.  Each plane has a maximum crosswind rating to tell a pilot when the plane can be landed safely and when it cannot.

This actually happens quite often both in private and commercial aviation.  The next time you are on a commercial  flight and one wing is lower than the other during a landing you will know that you just completed a crosswind landing.

Answer 2

As the previous answer said, a cross-wind landing is when you have some amount of wind coming from the left or right. That is, when it's not directly down the runway. Airplanes like to land into the wind but it's not always possible.

Virtually all landings are cross-wind landings. It's unusual to have the wind coming right down the runway, though runways are usually built so they point into the predominant wind direction. Where I live that means almost every airport has a 13/31 runway because the winds are usually out of the northwest or somewhere between west and north.

Answer 3

Any landing is a crosswind landing unless the wind is dead calm or happens to be blowing exactly down the runway; therefore, most landings involve some crosswind correction.

Correcting for a crosswind on landing is one of the basic maneuvers all pilots must learn, and it is one of the half-dozen aviation experiences that cause most pilots the most trouble.

Every airplane has what is called the "demonstrated crosswind component," stated in knots or miles per hour.  Legally the DCW is not a limit, and if you have the gonads you can probably land if the crosswind is a bit stronger, but it is not recommended.

As mentioned, the military have rules limiting crosswinds, and so do the airlines.

Answer 4

Cross wind landings are pretty common. Nature dictates where the wind comes from. This is the reason most major airports have more than one runway that run different angles. The idea is to have the wind coming toward the aircraft when landing for maximum control ability. When a crosswind hits a plane on landing it makes it more difficult to control. There are actually limits on how much a plane can land with. I was a flight engineer in the USAF and had more than one occasion when we had to land at an alternate airfield because of winds being out of limits.

Answer 5

Aircraft land going against the wind, not with the wind.  Just as they take off going into the wind, not with the wind.  This creates more lift for them on take-off and landing.  

A cross wind would be coming in from the side of the aircraft on landing or take-off.   Many airports have only on runway which when built would have a direction going into the predominate wind direction into the wind.    

Many airports, especially those used by the military, have multiple run ways to allow for wind change direction.  This will give them better odds of landing and taking off into the wind.

Answer 6

Normaly an airplane wants to land with the wind at its nose creating more lift on the wings creating a softer landing. but when the wind is not blowing up and down the runway we have to land with the wind coming from the side. this is sometimes tricky as a plane naturaly wants to go into the wind a cross landing is when you have no choice but to land with the wind comming from the side

Answer 7

That's when the wind at the time of touchdown is not parallel with your ground track.