View source for Maximum landing weight

{{use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}{{use British English|date=October 2020}}
The '''maximum landing weight (MLW)''', also known as the '''maximum structural landing weight''' or '''maximum structural landing mass''',<ref name="JAR OPS">{{cite web |title=JAR-OPS 1.607 (c) |url=https://www.caa.gov.om/upload/files/regulations/civil-aviation-regulation/commercial-air-transportation-aeroplanes.pdf |access-date=28 October 2024}}</ref> is the maximum [[aircraft gross weight]] due to design or operational limitations at which an [[aircraft]] is permitted to land. The MLW is set in order to ensure safe landings; if an aircraft weighs too heavy during touchdown, it may suffer structural damage or even break apart upon landing. Aircraft also have a [[maximum take-off weight]], which is almost always higher than the maximum landing weight, so that an aircraft can weigh less upon landing due to burning fuel during the flight.<ref name="Aeroflot Flight 1492">{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt2iMYv15bY  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/Gt2iMYv15bY |archive-date=2021-12-15 |url-status=live|title=Desperate Escape <nowiki>|</nowiki> Crashing Just After Landing in Moscow <nowiki>|</nowiki> Aeroflot Flight 1492 |work=The Flight Channel |date=22 October 2020 |accessdate=27 October 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>{{rp|at=5:28}}

The operation landing weight may be limited to a weight lower than the maximum landing weight by the most restrictive of the following requirements:

* Aircraft performance requirements for a given altitude and temperature:
:*landing field length requirements,
:*approach and landing climb requirements.
* Noise requirements

If the flight has been of unusually short duration, such as due to an emergency just after [[takeoff]] requiring a return to the airport, it may be necessary to [[Fuel dumping|dump fuel]] to reduce the landing weight.<ref name="Aeroflot Flight 1492"/> Some aircraft are unable to dump fuel, however. For example, on 3 February 2020, [[Air Canada]] Flight 837, a [[Boeing 767#767-300|Boeing 767-300]], suffered a rear tyre failure during take-off at [[Madrid–Barajas Airport]] on its way to Toronto, causing its left engine to catch fire. The pilots managed to extinguish it by shutting the engine down, but as 767-300s are not designed for [[fuel dumping]], it had to stay in a single-engine [[Holding (aeronautics)|holding pattern]] for over 4 hours to burn fuel and achieve its maximum landing weight, while an [[Spanish Air Force|SAF]] [[Fighter aircraft|fighter]] reported minimal damage to the [[landing gear]]. The plane landed safely and nobody was injured.<ref name="Shannon">{{Cite news |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbR_s4MixOs  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/IbR_s4MixOs |archive-date=2021-12-15 |url-status=live|title=Air Canada flight forced to make emergency landing in Madrid |author=Redmond Shannon |work=[[Global News]] |date=3 February 2020 |accessdate=15 October 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Sometimes the emergency may be so pressing that the aircraft has no time to dump or burn fuel in order to achieve its maximum landing weight before touchdown; in that case, a risky overweight landing may be permitted.<ref name="Shannon"/> In other cases, the flight crew may fail to dump fuel when it still had the time to do so before landing, leading to fatal accidents such as [[Aeroflot Flight 1492]] on 5 May 2019, where an apparently needlessly overweight landing turned into a crash that killed 41 of the 78 people on board.<ref name="Aeroflot Flight 1492"/><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/moscow-plane-crash-new-video-emerges-of-fatal-accident-in-russia/news-story/7a5ffb4db43fdd3cffdede0b505cc05c |title=Moscow plane crash: New video emerges of fatal accident in Russia |author=Travis Fedschun |work=News.com.au |date=16 April 2020 |accessdate=27 October 2020}}</ref>

Where aircraft overweight landing is permitted, a structural inspection or evaluation of the touch-down loads before the next aircraft operation will be required in case damage has occurred.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Aircraft operations]]
[[Category:Aircraft weight measurements]]
[[Category:Aviation safety]]

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