What happened
On February 22, 2014, at 07:41 UTC, a Boeing 737-800, registration OK-TVT, was performing a commercial air transport flight from Prague, Czech Republic, with a technical stop for refueling at Lajes Airport (LPLA) on Terceira Island, Azores. The aircraft was carrying 164 passengers and 6 crew members.
The flight proceeded normally until the approach to runway 1 and 5. The commander reported that while the visual approach appeared normal until 5 NM from the touchdown zone, the aircraft encountered severe turbulence and winds of approximately 50 knots throughout the approach. Below 1,000 feet, the crew encountered significant wind shear effects with intense variations in intensity until short final.
Upon landing, the aircraft experienced a hard landing on the main landing gear, reaching a maximum vertical load of 3.52 G. The aircraft then bounced on the runway. The pilot did not discontinue the landing, and the nose gear subsequently struck the runway with a vertical acceleration of 2.75 G. A subsequent inspection by the operator's engineering services revealed structural damage, including bent braces, tilted struts, and cracks in the fuselage frames within the nose wheel bay area.
The investigation
The GPIAA investigation established that the aircraft's approach profile deviated from stabilized approach criteria. The investigation examined flight data and cockpit voice recordings, noting that the pilot flying (PF) maintained an approach profile approximately one dot above the nominal Glide Slope (G/S). Additionally, the investigation found that the autopilot (A/P) had been disengaged, but the pilot failed to disconnect the autothrottle (A/T).
Findings
- The primary cause of the accident was the decision to land from an unstabilized approach.
- The approach was conducted under severe turbulence and wind shear conditions.
- The pilot flying established an approach profile above the nominal ILS Glide Slope.
- The pilot failed to disconnect the autothrottle after the autopilot was disengaged.
- The pilot monitoring (PM) failed to provide the required callouts regarding the deviations from the stabilized approach profile.