chiglet
Saw something similar over Newcastle once. Single engine light aircraft heading north on a day of very strong winds from the north and literally making no headway. Pilot was clearly not amused and put on what sounded like full power, but to no avail other than to draw attention to the problem and start attracting what was quite a large audience on the ground. After a few minutes of getting nowhere the pilot turned away and headed south. Imagine that aviator had a story to tell that evening...
With regard to crosswind, while I accept there are limits, from the pax perspective landing close to the limits can be a bit disconcerting <--- this is ES talking who enjoys flying ... those of a nervous disposition may chose to be scared. Can think of two memorable incidents at NCL, one involving a Gill ATR weathercocking at touchdown (for a moment it felt like I could see the full runway before somebody up front justified every hard earned crust, plus another in Feb on a KLM F100 where we wangled the wings quite impressively shortly after crossing the perimeter fence. Have no doubt both were quite safe, within limits and all that, but there is the oooooooooeeerrrr feeling when these things happen.
