What is the crosswind component if the tower reports a wind direction of 010 degrees at 18 knots?

To determine the crosswind component from the wind direction and speed reported, you can use the formula that involves the sine of the angle between the wind direction and the runway heading. In this scenario, we know the wind is coming from 010 degrees, which means it is coming from the north-northeast. If we consider the runway aligned with magnetic north (usually 000 or 360 degrees), the angle between the wind direction (010 degrees) and the runway direction (000 degrees) is 10 degrees.

To find the crosswind component, we apply the formula:

Crosswind Component = Wind Speed × sin(angle).

Here, the angle is 10 degrees, and the wind speed is 18 knots.

Crosswind Component = 18 knots × sin(10 degrees).

Calculating this gives you:

Crosswind Component ≈ 18 knots × 0.1736 (which is the sine of 10 degrees) ≈ 3.13 knots.

However, if the question was aimed at finding a more standard or practical understanding, we look at the larger picture, which may include a different effective runway direction or simply contextual rounding in aviation practice — often resulting in slightly adjusted values for rounding up for simplicity relative to the expected options