Czech investigators have disclosed that a Wizz Air UK Airbus A321XLR’s descent rate increased by 60% in the last few seconds before a hard touchdown and tail-strike at Prague.
It had been conducting an ILS approach to runway 24 following a service from London Gatwick on 11 September.
Weather conditions at the time were “normal”, says Czech investigation authority UZPLN, with good visibility – although the 10kt wind was variable, from 150-220°.
It states that the first officer, with 450h on A320-family aircraft, was the flying pilot, for the third time, while the flight was the captain’s first in command on the A321 model.
As the aircraft descended from 75ft to 30ft, says UZPLN, its rate of descent rose from 480ft/min to 768ft/min.
The flare levelled the twinjet at 25ft and it contacted the runway, pitched 6° nose-up, with a 2.54g impact.
Its radio-altimeter recorded a 2ft increase, suggesting a bounce. The aircraft’s spoilers were deployed and its pitch increased from 7.7° to 9.7° in less than 1s.
This resulted in the jet’s tail striking the runway. Inspection of the aircraft revealed aft fuselage underside damage in the region of frames 64-65. None of the occupants was injured.
Wizz Air had taken delivery of the Pratt & Whitney GTF-powered twinjet – its first example of the long-range XLR – just four months before the occurrence.
