Crabbing

Crabbing is a crosswind approach technique where the pilot intentionally yaws the aircraft into the wind so that the ground track remains aligned with the runway centerline while the aircraft's nose points off to one side. The angle between the aircraft's heading and the runway heading is the crab angle.

Just before touchdown, the pilot must transition from the crab to align the aircraft with the runway — either by kicking the rudder to straighten the nose (the de-crab) or by combining rudder with aileron into a wing-low (sideslip) position. Timing this transition is one of the more demanding skills in piloting.

Some aircraft — notably the Boeing 777 and certain Airbus models — are certified for crab landings, where the aircraft touches down still in a crab and the gear is designed to handle the resulting side loads. This technique is sometimes used in extreme crosswind conditions.