2004 Boeing 737-800 hard landing at Hannover

Incident Overview and Aircraft Details On 21 March 2004, a Boeing 737-800 operated by a commercial airline landed at Hannover Airport. The aircraft, which had a serial number of 29121 and was built in 1999, was equipped with two General Electric CFM56-7B-26 engines. At the time of the incident, the aircraft had a total operating time of 19,762 hours. The flight was carrying 164 passengers and 6 crew members, with no injuries reported. The aircraft sustained minor damage, specifically to the left engine cowl and the left nose wheel rim. ## Approach and Landing Sequence The aircraft arrived from London Stansted and was vectored by radar to the final approach course for runway 27L. The copilot, seated on the right, was the pilot flying. The approach was initially uneventful until approximately 200 feet above ground level, when the aircraft began to climb above the 3-degree glide path. The pilot flying responded by increasing the descent rate. The aircraft then made a hard initial touchdown with both main landing gear, bounced, and entered a 10-degree left bank. It touched down a second time on the left main gear and nose gear, bounced again, and finally settled on all three gear with a strong landing impact. ## Meteorological and Operational Factors The weather at Hannover was characterized by strong and gusty winds from the west, with a forecast for moderate turbulence on the final approach. The crew had increased the calculated reference landing speed (Vref) from 136 knots to 148 knots due to the wind conditions. The approach briefing did not explicitly mention the expected turbulence. The flight data recorder indicated that the approach was highly unstable below 400 feet, with descent rates fluctuating between 300 and 1,100 feet per minute. The final landing impact reached a vertical acceleration of 2.6 g, slightly exceeding the maximum allowable limit of 2.5 g. ## Investigation Findings and Recommendations The investigation concluded that the primary cause of the incident was the failure to effectively manage the turbulence during the final approach and the decision not to execute a go-around despite significant deviations in descent rate. The pilot flying had previously shown training deficiencies in approach and landing procedures. As a result, the airline ordered additional simulator training for the copilot and updated its operations manual to include specific landing training for Boeing 737 type ratings.