Air Carrier ERJ-170 Captain reported landing without clearance at CYYZ following a wake turbulence encounter.
Synopsis
Air Carrier ERJ-170 Captain reported landing without clearance at CYYZ following a wake turbulence encounter.
Narrative
Fairly normal flight until cleared and established on ILS 24; was told to maintain 170 knots and contact Tower over KIREX. Experienced what we both thought could only be wake turbulence and queried approach maybe a mile before KIREX. Approach said we were only following an E190; and we both thought it weird. Shortly after called 1000 configured and 500 stable. Noticed how dark the runway in front of us looked and checked to see if the NLG landing light was switched on. When I noticed it was in the off position I immediately realized that we were on with Approach and had never made the switch to Tower to receive landing clearance. This was maybe at 30 feet. I made the decision that a go around at this point was futile; which I think was the wrong decision in hindsight. If I had called go around at 20-30 feet it would have been possible to avoid touchdown I believe and thereafter admit to Approach that we failed to receive landing clearance. Once we touched down I waited until 60 knots to call Tower and apologize for landing without clearance; to which Tower said it was fine this time but to check in in the future to avoid potential collision with vehicles. Weren't given a Brasher warning; although it would have been standard to receive one. My FO (First Officer) and I debriefed at the gate and noted that it was unfortunate situation; but that we could both learn from it and mitigate future incidents of the sort. In the future I think a go around would be the right call even at 20 feet. I'm not sure how to mitigate forgetting to switch to Tower in the first place; as usually with a two man crew that threat is mitigated by one of us remembering. I think at 500 feet when I called stable I should have not done so without landing clearance; as this triggers a landing" response from PF (Pilot Flying). A go around would also have been wise I think. Calling fatigue might have also been prudent given how much I have been flying this month. Expectation bias was a huge factor here as well; as I've never landed without a clearance before. It's all routine at this point. With that in mind more attention to the "routine" aspects of flight might help mitigate this threat; or briefing."
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.