What happened
On February 11, 2020, an Embraert ERJ170-100LR, registration SP-LDK, was performing a landing approach to runway 28 at Nuremberg Airport (EDDN), Germany. The approach was being flown by the second pilot. During the final stages of the approach, the aircraft encountered variable weather conditions, including turbulence and a wind from 250° at 24 knots.
As the aircraft touched down, the left main gear made contact first, followed shortly thereafter by a much more forceful impact on the right main gear. This sequence of events was captured by the Flight Data Recorder (FDR), which triggered a "hard landing" report.
The investigation
The PKBWL examined the flight data recorded by the aircraft's FDR to reconstruct the landing dynamics. The investigation focused on the aircraft's attitude and vertical acceleration at the moment of impact, as well as the meteorological conditions present during the approach.
Findings
Analysis of the FDR revealed that the primary cause of the incident was an excessively aggressive wind correction maneuver. This correction resulted in a roll rate of 8.79°/second to the right, exceeding permissible limits. The vertical acceleration recorded during the landing was 1.46 g.
Contributing factors included adverse meteorological conditions, specifically turbulence and strong crosswinds. Additionally, the flying pilot had limited experience on this specific aircraft type, with only 816 flight hours recorded.