What happened
During a scheduled functional test flight and qualitative engineering evaluation, the pilot was assessing the longitudinal control characteristics of the aircraft during the landing sequence. While performing the final approach to runway 12L, the pilot transitioned the engines to flight idle and maintained a speed of 95 kias.
As the aircraft reached the flare stage, the pilot attempted to raise the nose to reduce the descent rate. However, the nose could not be raised sufficiently to arrest the vertical speed, resulting in a hard landing on the runway. Following the impact, the aircraft was moved via taxi to the ramp where it was properly secured.
Findings
An inspection of the aircraft following the event revealed no reported or discovered mechanical failures. The incident occurred during the landing phase of flight while the crew was specifically testing the aircraft's control response.