Coming from a real world 772 captain...landing in a crab is playing with fire. You risk blown tires on top of potential catastrophic gear failures. You are asking for an accident. Sure it is designed to be able to take that stress, but only for so long, that is far from a safe idea. Also the tremendous side load would be extremely uncomfortable for passengers. The proper procedure is to stay crabbed till you get down near the threshold, then put in a side slip (straighten the nose with the rudder, add opposite ailerons to counteract the wind), and adjust your bank to track straight down the runway, you will land with one wing low, then you slowly lower the opposite wing (which is often difficult to do smoothly), and continue using your controls to help counteract the sideload from the wind, yes, even in a 777. Now of course do to the size of a 777 compared to something such as a C172 or PA28, the wind doesn't effect nearly as much on the ground at the slower speeds, but definitely while slowing down it's still a great idea to keep the inputs in...takeoff is different, unless the winds are right at the max component its not as great of an idea because you will also be getting spoiler deflection therefore decreasing takeoff performance and lifting capabilities.
Blake Moore
