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Hey A300Cpt, or any other big metal pilot, do you think that that guy should have even been there at that time? It looked like he was having a real problem with roll control in the glide path at about 200ft, and then it looks like the x-wind picked up becuase his crab angle increased.
Do you guys have company limits on attempting a landing or a low pass? Is the approach speed a little higher? What is the maximum demonstrated x-wind component of the big rigs?
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Should the guy have been there? We've all been there at one time or another!
Not knowing the current weather conditions other than what's on the video, it's hard to determine the big picture or should they have been there. Winds can be completely different at 500 or 100 ft versus what's on the ground depending upon the weather phenomenon causing it or the local topography around the airport.
We do have company and aircraft wx limits listed in the AOM and FOM which we are required to follow. Most transport category aircraft have max demonstrated x-wind limits in the 30-35kt range (A300-600=32kts). We'll reduce this for wet/cluttered rwys.
We will also increase our indicated approach speed by as much as 15kts (we used a max of 20kts in the Boeings) to compensate for the wind gusts. I tend to leave the autothrottles engaged while hand flying the approach but keep my hands on the throttles while manually augmenting their movement since they can be a little sluggish during gusty conditions. We also discuss windshear warning and recovery procedures prior to the approach.
If things don't work out you simply hit the TOGA switch, GA and either wait for conditions to improve or go somewhere else.