Flight History
On 14 August 2012, M/s Air India Charters Ltd Boeing 737-800NG aircraft VT-AXE was operating scheduled passenger flight IX-814 from Dubai (DXB) to Mangalore (IXE). The flight crew consisted of a Captain (Check Pilot) occupying the left seat as Pilot-Flying and a Co-Pilot occupying the right seat as Pilot-Monitoring. They had adequate rest prior to the flight and were declared fit for duty. The flight from Mangalore to Dubai and the return leg were uneventful until the approach to Mangalore.
Approach and Touchdown
At 00:05 UTC, approximately 220 NM from Mangalore, the crew contacted Mangalore Area Control Centre (ACC) and received weather reports. Visibility was reported as 200 meters with fog, later improving to 800 meters, and RVR for Runway 24 was 1200 meters. The crew held at FL 200 before being cleared for an ILS approach to Runway 24. At 00:57:42 UTC, on short finals, the flight crew disconnected the autopilot at 245 feet above airfield elevation (AFE) with the aircraft on glide path at 0.8 DME. After disconnection, the aircraft adopted a nose-down attitude with increasing rate of descent, reaching a maximum of 1056 ft/min prior to touchdown. The aircraft descended below the 3-degree glide slope in poor visibility due to fog and low-altitude clouds.
During touchdown, the aircraft had a right bank of 5.6 degrees, causing the right main wheel to first contact the undershoot area (compacted earth) approximately 105 feet before the runway threshold at an approach speed of 151 knots. Immediately after, a left bank of 8.3 degrees led to the left main wheel contacting the ground about 49 feet before the threshold. The aircraft then bounced to about 20 feet radio altitude and was airborne for 7 seconds. During the bounce, engine N1 increased slightly. For the second touchdown, the aircraft flared to a 6.2-degree pitch attitude with a right bank of 7.4 degrees and speed brakes fully deployed. The second touchdown occurred at 142 knots with a vertical acceleration of 2.007g on Runway 24 approximately 1900 feet from the threshold. Maximum reverse thrust and manual braking were applied to decelerate.
Damage and Post-Landing
During the first touchdown on the undershoot area, all four wheels scraped over the graded Wet Mix Macadam (WMM) and bituminous surface for about 49 feet before the runway threshold. Loose stones and soil damaged the aircraft’s left horizontal stabilizer and tyres. After the second touchdown, the landing roll on the runway was uneventful. The flight crew did not report any abnormality to ATC initially. Upon parking, a post-flight inspection revealed damage to the tyres and left horizontal stabilizer. There were no injuries to any of the 172 persons on board (2 flight crew, 4 cabin crew, 166 passengers). The committee of inquiry determined that the aircraft sustained minor damage.
Probable Cause
The committee of inquiry determined that the incident was caused by incorrect control inputs on short finals during transition from IMC to VMC and an apparent loss of momentary depth perception by the Captain due to prevailing foggy and low-altitude cloud conditions.