Air carrier inbound to ord commented on the runway in use; noting current wind components precluded ...

Narrative:

While on arrival descent to ord; ATC informed us that ord was changing runways and to slow to slowest practical speed. Last ATIS showed landing runways at ord as 14R and 22R. Winds were reported to be 200/26g39. New ATIS showed a change to runways 27L/right and 28; with the same wind. This had to put most landing aircraft beyond their crosswind limits. We asked ATC to confirm runways in use at ord. We turned our other radio to monitor tower and heard an aircraft go around attempting to land on 27L. At that point; the captain notified center we would not accept the runways in use due to crosswind. Controller sounded upset and immediately told us to hold at teddy. After that several more aircraft on arrival refused new runway configuration and were also placed in holding. About 15-20 minutes later ATC notified everyone new runway was 14R and to let him know if unable. My recommendation is for controllers to get general training on airframe capabilities and limitations. This runway configuration change was unsafe and not appropriate; when it put many aircraft out of crosswind limits. We need to get the controllers back into the cockpits on familiarization flights to have a better understanding of what pilots are experiencing in our air traffic system. This event also cost a lot of airlines fuel and unnecessary delays.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier inbound to ORD commented on the runway in use; noting current wind components precluded use of runways; the reporter suggesting both additional controller training regarding aircraft limitations and the start up of the FAM program to enhance controller awareness.

Narrative: While on arrival descent to ORD; ATC informed us that ORD was changing runways and to slow to slowest practical speed. Last ATIS showed landing runways at ORD as 14R and 22R. Winds were reported to be 200/26G39. New ATIS showed a change to Runways 27L/R and 28; with the same wind. This had to put most landing aircraft beyond their crosswind limits. We asked ATC to confirm runways in use at ORD. We turned our other radio to monitor Tower and heard an aircraft go around attempting to land on 27L. At that point; the Captain notified Center we would not accept the runways in use due to crosswind. Controller sounded upset and immediately told us to hold at TEDDY. After that several more aircraft on arrival refused new runway configuration and were also placed in holding. About 15-20 minutes later ATC notified everyone new runway was 14R and to let him know if unable. My recommendation is for controllers to get general training on airframe capabilities and limitations. This runway configuration change was unsafe and not appropriate; when it put many aircraft out of crosswind limits. We need to get the controllers back into the cockpits on familiarization flights to have a better understanding of what pilots are experiencing in our air traffic system. This event also cost a lot of airlines fuel and unnecessary delays.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	881745
Time
Date	201004
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ORD.Airport
State Reference	IL
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	STAR BULLZ ONE
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Engineer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 14500 Flight Crew Type 9000
Events
Anomaly	No Specific Anomaly Occurred All Types

Air carrier inbound to ord commented on the runway in use; noting current wind components precluded use of runways; the reporter suggesting both additional controller training regarding aircraft limitations and the start up of the fam program to enhance controller awareness.