Are wind gusts ever too strong to land into the wind?

[Eboy]

Very windy day in DC and mild landing anxiety lead me to ask: If you are landing straight into the wind, can wind gusts ever be so strong that it is not possible to land because, say, a sustained gust would quit and drop the aircraft?

[scotbill]

Strong winds can make life uncomfortable for passengers as they often cause turbulence - particularly when their speed is changing such as crossing a jet stream at altitude or close to the ground. In the latter case there is often additional turbulence in the lee of airport buildings.
Wind straight down the runway is not normally a problem and this pilot always enjoyed the luxury it afforded of effectively increasing the runway distance available. (We fly on airspeed and headwind reduces groundspeed so the aeroplane touches down at a lower speed = shorter landing run + less brake required). For the same reason a good headwind improves take-off performance, enabling a heavier weight to be flown off a given runway length.
Crosswinds are a different matter and each airline will have laid down the limits acceptable in terms of windspeed and angle off runway direction. This is why it is occasionally necessary to divert from single runway destinations.
Crosswinds also aggravate the problem referred to above of turbulence in the lee of airport buildings close to the runway threshold

Hope that helps.

[FL370 Officeboy]

I would imagine that a strong headwind/gusts straight down the slot would be less restrictive than than wind limits for taxiing.

Personally, I've never had a headwind component or gusts down the runway 'too high' to land. I've aborted approaches simply due to the turbulence and windshear associated with these conditions but I don't think that's what you were asking. What I have had is headwinds too high of me to taxi off the runway should we have landed.

[vanHorck]

This is the effect of a very strong headwind.... notice the plane almost flies backwards...

YouTube - Husky Short Field Landing and Take-off (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c99ZHZw97rU)

Of course this one takes only a limited number of passengers.... i.e. one

[scotbill]

WingoWango

You don't say what type that was - but it would have limited value in the Scottish islands if the 55k restriction was strictly applied. They used to reckon the humble DC3 could be operated up to 50 knots - and that was a taildragger.

[finncapt]

Must go with scotbill on this.

Strong winds in the Scottish islands are quite a regular occurence.

Have landed at Sumburgh (HS748) when the wind given was straight down the runway at 70kts didn't really bother to flare the rate of descent was so low already.

Hard work backtracking to ensure the controls didn't break out of the gustlocks.

Had to tie the door open to let the passengers out

The subsequent take off was quite interesting, even stationary we had over 40kts on the airspeed indicator and had to make sure the aircraft didn't back itself off the threshold when we turned around to line up.

The aircraft was probably airborne before we had set take off power.

But, to answer the original question, I don't think the 748 had a maximum headwind speed and I don't think the other types I have flown have.

It's usually the turbulence that would stop you.

[Eboy]

Good point.

Thank you for all the responses.

[fincastle84]

It's not only the wind strength that may cause problems, but also the direction, particularly if the direction is variable during the approach to the runway.

A classic example is Funchal, Madeira, where a strong northerly wind flowing down off the extinct volcano to the north of the runway, can make the airfield totally unusable. In those conditions the wind direction is very variable, accompanied by severe turbulence.

[hautemude]

The answer is YES. Some companies/some A/C have total wind limitations.