B737 Captain reported encountering wake turbulence on short final at SFO when a B777 t took off just before their arrival on the same runway.
Synopsis
B737 Captain reported encountering wake turbulence on short final at SFO when a B777 t took off just before their arrival on the same runway.
Narrative
We flew the SURFR arrival EDDY transition for the ILS 28R into SFO. We were cleared the approach and inside of EDDY we were told we were following a heavy 767 and given caution for wake turbulence. We were then told to slow to 180 knots and we complied. As we were reaching 180 kts inside of CEPIN we heard Tower clear an aircraft onto the runway. We started slowing to final approach speed. The aircraft was cleared for takeoff when we were inside the FAF (AXMUL) and around 2;000 ft. MSL we were told caution for wake turbulence because it was a 777 that was taking off. Inside about 1000 ft. they started rolling. They departed the runway when we were about 200 ft. AGL. We landed slightly long and encountered wake turbulence during the landing phase between 100 ft. AGL and 40 ft. AGL. We contemplated going around but due to it being night and mountainous terrain decided the best course of action was to land. The go around would've been a bigger threat than landing because of how close we were; as well as the fact we would need to offset at night in mountainous terrain with no knowledge of the direction a 777 would be turning after takeoff and their climb out speed. Ultimately the approach and landing were safe but ATC did not adhere to minimum wake turbulence separation criteria. I understand when they are down to one arrival runway they need to try and have people land; but this created a potential for either a significant wake turbulence event or a go around separation event. If weather was low and we did not have VFR conditions nor used our judgment by slowing down early this could have had the potential to be a serious incident.
Second reporter narrative
[Narrative contained no additional information.]
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.