What happened
The flight crew was performing a landing approximately 30 minutes after local sunrise. The approach involved significant glare from the sun, which prompted the flying pilot to install a windshield sun shade at the other marker. During the descent, the crew performed the standard 1,000-foot and 500-foot callouts, confirming the runway was in sight.
As the aircraft descended to approximately 1,000 feet, visibility decreased due to increasing glare and low haze. While the flying pilot maintained what they believed to be the correct landing attitude, the non-flying pilot in command (PIC) took control of the aircraft prior to touchdown. The PIC attempted to flare the airplane; however, this maneuver caused the sink rate to increase. Consequently, the aircraft experienced a hard landing.
The investigation
Data retrieved from the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) confirmed the severity of the impact, showing that the touchdown produced 2.77 Gs. Analysis of the flight data indicated that the sink rate increased specifically when the non-flying pilot moved the control column aft in an attempt to execute a flare.