Can a plane land overweight?

Landing overweight requires an overweight landing inspection with its associated cost. Many airlines provide their flight crews with guidelines to enable the pilot to make an intelligent decision to burn off fuel, jettison fuel, or land overweight considering all relevant factors of any given situation.



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How fat is too fat to fly? Even though there are no weight limits for fat passengers, there are normally three basic requirements for flying while overweight: Passengers must be able to sit with both armrests down. Passengers must be able to buckle their seatbelts.

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Various factors (including air temperature, elevation, runway length and slope, and obstacles near the runway) can limit how much weight an airplane can safely carry. In addition, weight distribution can cause issues related to an aircraft's center of gravity.

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Each bag should weigh less than 23KG/50LBS. This is an international regulation set for the health and safety of airport workers who have to lift hundreds of bags daily.

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A belly landing or gear-up landing occurs when an aircraft lands without its landing gear fully extended and uses its underside, or belly, as its primary landing device.

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That doesn't make it a good idea, which is why pilots are trained to do weight and balance plus performance calculations before every flight. Besides the safety angle, taking off over gross weight could land you in trouble with the FAA even if nothing goes wrong, you can lose your ticket for that.

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Choose Your Seat Wisely
While some passengers prefer window seats, aisle seats are often better for overweight passengers that are only purchasing one seat. Window seats are often the better option if you purchase an additional seat.

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When an aircraft is unable to touch down with its landing gear fully extended it must perform a gear-up or belly landing. Such a landing does carry a small risk - there is likely to be damage to the aircraft; it could conceivably catch fire or flip over if it lands too hard.

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Water landings are in some ways easier and in some ways more difficult than runway landings. It's best said they're just different. Water landings are often unconstrained in length or direction, making short-field or crosswind landings somewhat of a rarity.

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Transferring too much weight onto the nosewheel causes a situation called wheelbarrowing, which can lead to a loss of directional control, prop strike, or nose gear collapse. On top of those problems, with little to no weight on your main landing gear, you have little braking action.

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Additionally, Ryanair planes tend to have smaller wingspans than other aircrafts which can lead them into more turbulent air during descent and cause harder landings.

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According to the FAA's Airplane Flying Handbook (8-18), for landing in turbulent conditions, use a power-on approach at an airspeed slightly above the normal approach speed. This provides for more positive control of the airplane when strong horizontal wind gusts, or up and down drafts, are experienced.

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If you load a plane over gross, you are taking it outside the approved (and known) performance envelope. Flying over gross also reflects a careless attitude and defiance of the rules, both known “at-risk” behaviors that begin the accident chain.

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Can you go over 23 kg? The maximum weight in Premium and Economy is 23kg per bag. If yours are heavier than that, you'll need to pay an overweight baggage fee at the airport. In Upper Class the maximum weight is 32kg per bag.

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Short answer: Of course you can, but you're going to be charged for excess baggage by almost any airline in the world. Some airlines may overlook the charges if you're traveling on a first class ticket (British Airways First passengers max allowed is 32kg/70lbs, most airlines are about the same).

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