We need a N. Lappos of the Eurocopter world for this one.
Flight manual limits for hovering the AS332 are:
Above 18410 lbs: 17 kts crosswind or tailwind.
At or below 18410 lbs: 35 kts crosswind or downwind.
Now assume you are ready to go at a max wt of 18960 lbs on an East/West choice of runway with the wind at 180/30 kts.
We have performance graphs that show us that a single engine reject or continued take off profile can be performed to satisfy the Authority and that we are also using a take off area that is clear of non-frangible objects etc. etc.(ie. one of the East/West runways).
Can you go? There is definately a split between the old school and the more court room case scenario pilots.
I personally find it hard to believe that you could lift to the hover into wind and then crab sideways down the runway, and then the one time in 100,000 everything went wrong and you damaged the aircraft,or even worse, damaged someone, that the lawyer wouldn't say "you exceeded the crosswind limits".
You could take it to the extreme; you can depart in over 70kts, and then I'm sure you would not take off crosswind.
To protect our butts from lawyers, should we forget that helicopters can do it, when carrying normal passengers, and perhaps limit ourselves to the flight manual hover limits.
It would be interesting to hear from anyone who's involved in the performance side of things.
I also have a theory. When the engine fails you droop the rotors to 245 rpm, which also slows the tail rotor down, and perhaps with a crosswind that exceeds the current limitations you would not guarantee tail rotor control. Basic, but sound enough for me to be wary.
Can you go? 