It is not correct to say that the MD-11 is not suited to land in strong or gusty cross winds.
Respecting the limitations, it is a perfectly fine aircraft to operate in all weather conditions as any other wide body.
MD-11 pilots must understand the LSAS and this is the key to fully appreciate this beautiful airplane.
I believe that pilot qualifications to fly the MD-11 are more of the concern, not the aircraft.
The secret to land the MD-11 in gusty cross winds is to align with the runway using the rudder not later than 500 feet and don’t allow the auto-throttle to retard at 50 feet RA. In other words, hold the thrust levers to maintain the Vref + wind additives and manually retard the throttles to idle at touchdown.
This is not an easy task and requires a lot of experience to achieve this technique, that’s why pilot qualification has an important role here.
two cents from who operated the great MD-11 for long time
