What happened
On February 13, 2012, an Embraert E170-200 was operating a scheduled flight from Warsaw (WAW) to Bucharest (OTP). During the final approach to runway 08R, the aircraft encountered challenging meteorological conditions, including heavy snowfall, a cloud base of only 200 feet, visibility of 700 meters (RVR 1400m), and a 12-knot wind from 060 degrees.
During the landing sequence, the aircraft experienced a vertical acceleration of Nz=2.109g. The crew did not file an occurrence report or an entry in the Technical Logbook (LDP 60) at the time of the event, as the commander stated that the landing felt normal and no irregularities were perceived by the crew.
The incident was only identified on February 15, 2012, during a routine Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) analysis. By the time the exceedance was detected, the aircraft had already completed 10 additional take-off and landing cycles.
The investigation
The investigation examined cockpit voice and video recordings (DVDR) and flight data. Analysis of the flight parameters confirmed that while all approach parameters were maintained correctly, the flare maneuver was initiated slightly too late.
Technical inspections were conducted in two phases. The first phase, performed on February 15, 2012, followed the Aircraft Maintenance Manual (AMM) protocols for hard landings, allowing the aircraft to continue operations for 10 cycles. A second phase of inspection was completed on February 18, 2012, after which the aircraft was returned to standard service.
Findings
- The primary cause of the hard landing was the late execution of the flare maneuver, resulting in excessive vertical speed at touchdown.
- The heavy snowfall and a snow-covered runway acted as contributing factors, as the lack of visual reference points relative to the ground made it difficult for the crew to judge the aircraft's height.
- The crew's focus on the difficult landing conditions led to a subjective perception that the landing was within normal limits, which resulted in the failure to report the exceedance.