You can land safely above maximum landing weight, although it might cause damage to the tires or in extreme cases to the landing gears. Overweight landings are

You can land safely above maximum landing weight, although it might cause damage to the tires or in extreme cases to the landing gears. Overweight landings are performed frequently[1] in emergencies, especially when an emergency occurs on or right after take-off. There may still have been other overriding reasons not to land at the closest airfield in this case. We just don't know enough yet. [1] http://avherald.com/h?search_term=overweight+landing&opt=0&dosearch=1&search.x=0&search.y=0 http://avherald.com/h?search_term=overweight+landing&opt=0&d...