The C-150 is rated for a max 21 knot crosswind. What to do if you find you HAVE to land in a strong crosswind?

Recently, at the Vermilion Cliffs strip a pilot had to land his light plane because of a fuel miscalculation, unfortunately, a storm on the Kaibab plateau was generating very strong descending crosswinds across the strip. The plane flip and cart-wheeled. Terrible injuries and loss of aircraft occured.





He did not run out of fuel, the accident occured because of the weather. Other than being better at fuel calculations, how could this pilot have made the landing?

The C-150 is rated for a max 21 knot crosswind. What to do if you find you HAVE to land in a strong crosswind?
If you HAVE to land a C-150 in a strong crosswind...treat it as an emergency. Think about survival, and not the airplane. Crab into the wind, and come in just over stall speed, with plenty of power to control the descent. If the runway is wide, land at an angle, toward the wind, and plan on overrunning the side of the runway. Just prior to touchdown, bank into the wind and apply full opposite rudder to straighten the nose as much as possible. Plan on touching down with a slight crab, and therefore plan on skidding. The key is to keep the wings level, and slow down as quickly as you can. You may damage the airplane, but you will likely survive.





As an option, it may be better to find an open field and land there, as opposed to forcing yourself to land at an airport with an excessive crosswind.
Reply:Elana had the better answer, if the crosswind is too great at a particular airport the you should look for a better option.





The crosswind rating is typically not the "design limit" but the maximum "demonstrated" meaning that this is the highest crosswind component that the manufacturer has tested the aircraft. If you attempt to land with a higher crosswind component then you are basically now the test pilot. I have been in 172's and landed just fine with the crosswind well above the maximum demonstrated.
Reply:Clearly, if at all possible, he should have tried


to make it to another airport with a runway


that was more into the wind (or at least, had less


crosswind).





If that's not possible, you end up having to land


faster than you want in order to keep the wind


correction angle and its going to be very very


touchy when the wheels come down.





Go find another airport.
Reply:I think the accident did not occur because of the weather. The accident occured due to bad planning on the part of the pilot. You said he miscalculated his fuel, %26amp; he was also flying in the vicinity of a storm. Not the weathers fault here.





If the crosswind exceeds the crosswind limitations of your aircraft then you are going to have an accident if you try to land under those conditions.


The only technique to counter an excessive crosswind is to land on a runway that is more into the wind, period.
Reply:Honestly, planning is the strongest skill a pilot can have in most situations. It's just as important to know the weather around the area as it is to know the aircraft limitations. "Fuel miscalculation" sounds like poor planning, as does flying close to a storm that effectively removed a potential prepared field. But with the 150, this country is chock full of emergency fields (every road). Just check where the tumbleweeds are rolling and land in the opposite direction.





There are very few accidents in aviation, but a lot of mishaps ("accidents" are treated as if nothing could have been done to prevent them, while "mishap" has a chain of events leading to the incident).
Reply:If the crosswind exceeds the design limit of the plane you are going to crash. There is simply not enough control authority to keep the plane under control.





You could try a short field approach at an angle to reduce the crosswind component , but that may be your only choice.





You can yaw into the wind , but thats not going to work once the wheels touch and if you dont straighten the wheels you may flip the plane.





Always have fuel for a weather alternate.