Cross-wind landings can be a real "trip"! But I'm sure all the AA pilots have plenty of training as well as experience doing this.
The Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas was one of the primary training spots for air craft carrier pilots, even back to WWII and the reason was, we have strong constant winds (we tie Chicago as the "windy city") and many times have cross winds. The saying goes "If you can learn to fly in Corpus Christi, you can fly, takeoff, and land anywhere in the world!"
I am a private pilot and yep, learned right here in Corpus Christi. Over 50% of my take-off and landings during training was in high crosswinds (purposely) for the obvious reason that if I had a plane here, I needed to know how to land/take the thing off here!
I actually enjoyed most of the cross-wind landings (read MOST)... you do have to crab into the wind, but then snap it out straight, if possible, at the last minute.
But believe me... if the wind is too strong, and/or cross wind too brutal, the pilot is going elsewhere to land. Pilots want to get on the ground in one piece too ya know!
Probably the scariest part to the passengers is during the crabbing process. Your mind just KNOWS that plane isn't lining up straight down the runway. But that is part of the process, so sit back and try to relax!
