Essential Crosswinds (Not Tested)!

We bend and break more planes in crosswinds landings than in any other phase of flight. Take off and landing = 64.1% of accidents  and 80% involve wind as a causal factor. This large number of accidents represents less than 5% of piloting time and does not include “incidents” and non-towered “grass excursions” (oops!) The FAA does not require the demonstration of crosswind landing skills in the FAA private or commercial ACS so it is often not taught (specified on ATP/Type in sim.)  This is a very sad commentary on aviation safety and CFI professionalism. The post-test “trial and error” acquisition of this skill is obviously just not working.

When the winds blow, the risks increase for light aircraft operations. The single leading cause of accidents involves loss of directional control during takeoff or landing…over an 11-year period the National Transportation Safety Board identified wind as a primary cause of more than 2,800 accidents.

The CFI is the primary determiner of aviation safety. They spend many flight hours and months creating a safe pilot. The DPE only sees them for a couple hours and DPEs have a strict “no teaching” mandate from the FAA. The standard is “yes or no” and “perfection is not the standard”. As a whole, flight training providers are failing pilots in training. If a pilot does not learn a skill in their primary training, they are out in the world to learn and discover this on their own. It is incumbent upon a conscientious CFI to teach the crosswind skills necessary for safe piloting!

Trying to incorporate crosswind testing into a standard (see above) might unnecessarily complicate the testing process (waiting for wind) and I am sure that is why it was probably removed. But it is the duty of every professional CFI to insist on crosswind skills for their pilots (at all levels). For private pilot level pilots, please embrace the “10@10K landing initiative” – fly 10 landings with at least a 10K crosswind – and log it! This would be just like the 10 required night landings we are required for private. Pilots need this capability to be safe…hopefully, this helps? Fly safely (and often)!

Join SAFE and get great benefits (like 1/3 off ForeFlight!) Your membership supports our mission of increasing aviation safety by promoting excellence in education.  Our FREE SAFE Toolkit App puts required pilot endorsements and experience requirements right on your smartphone and facilitates CFI+DPE teamwork. Our CFI insurance was developed by SAFE specifically for CFIs (and is the best value in the business).