Description

On 6 July 2018, an ATR 72-600 (CS-DJG) being operated by White Airways for TAP Express on a scheduled international passenger flight from Lisbon, Portugal, to Fez, Morocco, as TP1428 with First Officer line training in progress made a multiple bounce hard landing in day VMC at destination. During the landing the lower rear fuselage hit the runway and sustained deformation damage. The aircraft was then operated back to Lisbon in service whilst not airworthy due to the damage which was not noticed until the following morning prior to the intended first flight of the day, at which point it was withdrawn from service for repair. The Senior Cabin Crew Member (SCCM) sustained a minor back injury as a result of the impact of the fuselage with the runway, but the other 61 occupants were uninjured.

Investigation

The Portuguese Air and Rail Accident Investigation Agency (GPIAAF) was notified of the event by the BEA Morocco, which delegated the conduct of the necessary Accident Investigation to Portugal. It was noted that the GPIAAF only became “formally aware” of the accident when it “received a brief description of the event and the actions taken by the Operator with the aircraft ferried to Cascais and subsequent contact with the manufacturer”. The FDR and CVR were both removed from the aircraft but useful data could only be downloaded from the FDR as relevant CVR data had been overwritten.