Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
crosswind
References
Britannica AI Icon

crosswind

Written by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

Quick Summary

A crosswind is a wind that blows in a direction not parallel to the course of an aircraft. This type of wind can affect an airplane's landing and takeoff. To mitigate issues caused by strong crosswinds, airports may have a two-runway configuration, including a main runway and an auxiliary crosswind runway.12

The crosswind force is the component of the total air force acting on an airplane that is perpendicular to both the lift and drag forces. This force is a critical consideration in aviation safety and airport design.3

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
3 Britannica Sources
  1. crosswind
  2. airport - Runway configurations
  3. crosswind force

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.