FIRM TO HARD LNDG. TEMPORARY LOSS OF ACFT CTL. ACFT DAMAGED.

Date: 1994-06 · Aircraft: B727 Undifferentiated or Other Model

Anomalies: conflict-ground-conflict|critical|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|inflight-event-encounter-loss-of-aircraft-control|inflight-event-encounter-other-unknown|other-unspecified

Synopsis

FIRM TO HARD LNDG. TEMPORARY LOSS OF ACFT CTL. ACFT DAMAGED.

Narrative

ON JUN/XX/94 I WAS CAPT ON FLT TO DTW. ON ARR AT DTW WE WERE GIVEN A VISUAL APCH TO RWY 21L. THE WIND WAS FROM THE W OR SW. WHILE IN THE FLARE WE EXPERIENCED A GUST THAT KEPT THE ACFT FROM TOUCHING DOWN FOR A SECOND OR SO; THEN QUIT. THE ACFT LANDED FIRM AND BOUNCED: THE AUTO SPOILERS DID NOT DEPLOY. THE NOSE PITCHED UP AND THE ACFT ROLLED TO THE R. FO IMMEDIATELY ROLLED LEVEL; LOWERED THE NOSE AND LANDED AGAIN. I STARTED MANUAL SPOILERS AND THE AUTO SPOILER MOTOR WAS IMMEDIATELY BEHIND ME CONTINUING THE GND SPOILER EXTENSION. WHILE FIRM; THIS LNDG GAVE NO INDICATION THAT WE SHOULD REQUEST A HARD LNDG INSPECTION OR HAVE ANY FURTHER REASON FOR CONCERN. AFTER DEPLANING I WALKED FROM GATE TO THE CONCOURSE TO STOW MY BAG; THEN RETURNED TOWARD GATE TO GO HOME. WHILE PASSING GATE I HEARD PART OF AN ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT POSSIBLE CANCELLATION WHICH I THOUGHT STRANGE AS I WAS AWARE OF NO INBOUND WRITE-UPS. I ASKED A PAX IN THE BOARDING AREA ABOUT THE ANNOUNCEMENT AND HE STATED HE DIDN'T HEAR ALL OF IT BUT IT WAS SOMETHING ABOUT ACFT DAMAGE. WITH THAT I WENT STRAIGHT TO THE ACFT WHERE I FOUND PART OF THE OUTBOUND CREW AND I ASKED THEM ABOUT IT. THEY ADVISED ME THERE WAS R WINGTIP DAMAGE. I WALKED OUT TO VIEW THE DAMAGE. I WAS SHOCKED AND AMAZED ONE COULD SCRUFF A WINGTIP AND NOT BE AWARE OF IT UP FRONT. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 273385: THE CAPT GOT A FINAL HEAD CHK FOR ME AND I REMEMBERED IT AS BEING EITHER 240 DEGS OR 260 DEGS AT 16 KTS. MY CONFIDENCE WAS HIGH THAT THIS WOULD BE NOTHING MORE THAN ANOTHER GOOD LNDG AS I WAS CONCENTRATING VERY HARD AND WORKING VERY HARD FOR ONE. WE HAD 2 JUMPSEATERS ON BOARD AND I ALSO WANTED TO IMPRESS THEM. SO THERE WAS NO RELAXATION OR SLOUGHING OFF ON MY PART. I MADE A NORMAL ATTITUDE FLARE; INSTEAD OF THE EXPECTED NORMAL TOUCHDOWN; THE ACFT STARTED ABOUT A 2 SECOND FLOAT IN A LEVEL ATTITUDE. THEN SUDDENLY WENT DOWN IN THAT SAME ATTITUDE. THE TOUCHDOWN WAS VERY FIRM; WITH THE NOSE SLANTING UP QUICKLY FOLLOWED BY A RIGHT WING DIP WHICH I CORRECTED IMMEDIATELY. I HAD THE AUTO-SPOILERS ARMED. I HAD THE AUTO BRAKES OFF. THE ACFT HAD STARTED TO FLOAT; IT DID NOT RUN OUT OF AIRSPD. RATHER; I FELT THAT THE PLANE WAS PUSHED DOWN TO THE RWY. I REMEMBER WHILE TAXIING BACK ALONG THE PARALLEL TXWY WATCHING ONE OF OUR DC-9'S AND ANOTHER CARRIER'S 727 LAND; AND BOUNCE THAT AT LEAST MINE (LNDG) COULDN'T HAVE BEEN AS BAD AS THESE. HAD I TO DO THE APCH AND LNDG AGAIN WITH THE SAME INFO I HAD BEFORE; I WOULD HAVE DONE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING DIFFERENT.

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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.