Challenger 350
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Other / Unknown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
General None Reported / Taken
Airport; Weather; Human Factors; Company Policy
We were dispatched to ZZZ and neither of us had been there before and were under the impression that a checkout/qualification was needed prior to taking passengers. The Chief pilot agreed with us initially; then sent us an email approximately 1 hour later stating that the checkout policy was no longer valid and that as long as we reviewed the paperwork associated with ZZZ; we would be considered qualified. After reviewing the paperwork the First Officer and I agreed that the max crosswind limit for ZZZ was 5 kts; as stated in the limitations section of the AOM (Aircraft Operations Manual). In the feasibility for ZZZ it stated that 10 kts was the max. The First Officer and I agreed that the AOM limitation 'trumped' the feasibility and stuck with 5 kts. When briefing the passenger; Mr. X became very irate at the fact that neither of us had any experience with ZZZ before. He said that he was promised that at least 1 pilot would have ZZZ experience. I had to produce the email to prove that we had challenged the company and was told otherwise. He became even more upset when we told him that the winds were in excess of our max crosswind limitation of 5 kts. He challenged the 5 kt limit and told us to prove it. I produced the AOM limitations showing the ZZZ limitation. He said I was wrong and was told by both sales and owner services that the limit was 10 kts. I told him that I would call my boss in the air to sort out the misunderstanding. Contacted the Chief Pilot who reaffirmed the 5 kt limit; but would contact others to confirm and would send a message. We received an email stating that the new limit was 10 kts. That it was approved and signed and would be out in the next AOM revision. Gave this information to Mr. X. He stated that something had to be done to keep this situation from happening again. I promised him that I would have the Chief Pilot send a fleet wide email to clarify the ZZZ limits. ZZZ winds were 350/8 which would be a 7 kt crosswind. UNICOM winds were 020/10g16 which would be an 8 kt crosswind. We landed with these winds with the understanding that the new limit was 10 kts. After landing I called Chief Pilot to ask that the fleet wide email be sent. He stated that he could not do this. I called [another manager] to repeat the request. He said that he couldn't. After a lot of back and forth I got him to admit that the new crosswind limits had been signed off by the company; but not the FAA. Therefore; the old limit of 5 kts was still valid. We were lied to by the company in order to complete a passenger trip to an airport that exceeded our AOM limitationsI don't know what suggestions are possible to fix this. We did everything in our power to prevent this event from happening. If the people in charge are going to lie/deceive us when we ask for clarification; then this event; or others like it; will continue.
CL350 Captain reported being dispatched to a private airport with a narrow runway and a maximum crosswind limitation of 5 knots. When asked; the Chief Pilot stated that the limitation had been changed to 10 knots. After landing with an 8 knot crosswind it was learned that the revised crosswind limit had yet to be approved by the FAA.