AT76, Canberra Australia, 2017

AT76, Canberra Australia, 2017

Summary

On 19 November 2017, an ATR 72-600 being operated by a flight crew who were simultaneously undertaking a routine Line Check during revenue flying made a hard landing at Canberra which caused significant damage to the aircraft. The Investigation noted that the low experience First Officer had mismanaged the final stages of the approach so that it was no longer stabilised and that although the opportunity was there, the Captain had failed to intervene promptly enough to prevent the resulting hard landing. The Check Captain had assessed the imminent landing as likely to be untidy rather than unsafe.

Description

On 19 November 2017, an ATR 72-600 (VH-FVZ) being operated by Virgin Australia Airlines on a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Sydney to Canberra as VA646 made a hard touchdown at destination on the main landing gear and rear fuselage after a day VMC approach. The aircraft was able to be taxied in for normal passenger disembarkation but was then confirmed to have sustained substantial structural damage. No occupants were injured. The flight was a Line Check flight for both operating crew members being conducted from the supernumerary crew seat.

The accident touchdown in progress. [Reproduced from the Official Report]

Investigation

An Investigation into the accident was carried out by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). Data from the aircraft FDR and CVR were downloaded and provided useful information.

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