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OPERATIONS

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 A Focus on the Landing
Flare
There were several cases of aircraft
touching down with their nose
landing gear first or hard landings
reported to Airbus over the last 2
years. This article will present some
key points coming from the analysis
of two of these incidents and recall
the operational recommendations for
performing the flare phase that are
key to ensuring a safe landing.

CASE STUDY 1: BOUNCED

LANDING, NOSE LANDING
GEAR IMPACT, AND A TAIL
STRIKE ON GO-AROUND
Event Description
An A320 was on the final approach segment of
its ILS approach, configured for landing (CONF
FULL).

The Pilot Flying (PF) disconnected the

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 The Pilot Flying (PF) disconnected the
autopilot at 370 ft Radio Altitude (RA) and kept
autothrust ON. At 200 ft, tailwind variations
caused the airspeed to drop below approach
speed (Vapp).

① From 100 ft RA and below, high tailwind

gradients maintained the airspeed below Vapp
-5 kt despite autothrust increase and reached a
minimum of 119 kt (Vapp -20 kt) at 5 ft RA.

② The PF performed the flare at 14 ft and at

the same time started to slowly push the
thrust levers above CLB detent.

③ The aircraft touched down on its main

landing gear and bounced. During the bounce,
a PITCH PITCH auto callout triggered.

④ The PF applied full nose down order and

retarded the thrust levers to IDLE. This
triggered an extension of ground spoilers
leading the aircraft to heavily impact the
runway , first with its nose landing gear and
then its main landing gear.

⑤ The impact of the nose gear resulted in

another sudden increase of the aircraft’s pitch
and the PITCH PITCH auto callout triggered for
a second time. The PF initiated a go-around by
setting TOGA thrust and applying a full nose up
command. There was a tail strike as the
aircraft lifted off from the runway at 133 kt.

The NLG wheels separated due to the impact

of the NLG on the runway and one wheel was
sucked into Engine 1, causing this engine to
stall. Other system failures occurred due to the
impact on the NLG and these caused the
aircraft to revert to alternate law. The flight

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 aircraft to revert to alternate law. The flight
crew diverted to a different airport and
eventually landed the aircraft.

(fig.1) Sequence of events from Case Study 1

Operational Considerations
Role of the Pilot Monitoring (PM)

The FCOM SOP for landing requests a SPEED

callout by the PM in the case of speed
deviation of 5 kt below the target speed. The
PF should initiate a go-around unless they
consider that a stabilized condition can be
recovered by small corrections to the aircraft
and within sufficient time prior to landing.

The FCTM states that the risk of tail strike is

increased due to the high angle of attack and
high pitch attitude if the speed of the aircraft is
allowed to decrease too far below Vapp before
the flare.

Looking at step ① in the event described

above, it shows the speed went below Vapp -5
kt from 100 ft and below. If the PM had made a
“SPEED” callout then the PF may have noticed
the speed decay and attempted to correct it or
initiate a go-around if it was not likely to
stabilize in time.

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 Flare Height

The FCOM states that in a stabilized approach,

the flare should be initiated at 30 ft for A320
family aircraft (the values for other Airbus
aircraft are provided later in this article).

The FCTM recommends initiating the flare

earlier if there is a tailwind. This is because a
tailwind will contribute to a higher ground
speed with an associated increase in vertical
speed to maintain the approach slope.

Initiating the flare earlier would have reduced

the high vertical speed of the aircraft in the
event described above.

Thrust Lever Management

The A320 FCTM explains that the flight crew

can rapidly retard all thrust levers to IDLE either
earlier or later than the 20 ft “RETARD” auto
callout reminder depending on the conditions.
However, the thrust levers should be at IDLE by
touchdown to ensure that the ground spoilers
will extend and keep the aircraft on the ground.

In step ② of the event, the PF pushed the

thrust levers above the CLB detent during flare.
This increased thrust and inhibited the ground
spoiler extension during the initial touchdown,
which contributed to the aircraft bounce.

Bounce Management

For a high bounce, as was the case in the

incident described above, the FCTM
recommends maintaining the aircraft’s pitch
attitude and performing a go-around.

The hard impact of the nose landing gear with

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 The hard impact of the nose landing gear with
the runway described in step ④ of the event
was caused by extension of the ground
spoilers when the thrust levers were retarded
to IDLE during the bounce combined with a full
forward stick input after the bounce.

Go-Around Close to the Ground

The FCTM recommends avoiding an excessive

rotation rate during a go-around close to the
ground and to counteract any pitch-up effect
due to the thrust increase.

In step ⑤ of the event, it was the full back stick

input combined with the nose landing gear
bounce and thrust increase that contributed to
the tail strike.

CASE STUDY 2: A321 NOSE

LANDING GEAR LANDING
Event Description
The A321 performed an ILS approach in night
conditions. The weather was fine and there
was a 10 kt headwind.

The flight crew switched OFF the autopilot at

940 ft RA and kept the FD ON. The autothrust
was ON and the speed was stabilized at
approach speed.

① From 110 ft RA to 50 ft RA, the PF applied

several nose up inputs that increased the
aircraft pitch attitude to 3.8° nose up. The
autothrust commanded a thrust increase to
maintain Vapp. The aircraft consequently flew
over the runway threshold at around 40 ft RA

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 over the runway threshold at around 40 ft RA
with a vertical speed close to 0 ft/min.

② The PF applied several pitch up inputs that

maintained the nose up pitch attitude and the
aircraft subsequently floated above the runway
for 4 seconds. At around 20 ft RA, the PF
retarded the thrust levers progressively to IDLE.

③ 4 seconds later the aircraft was at around

10 ft and the PF applied a full forward stick
input. The nose landing gear heavily impacted
the runway 660 m after the runway threshold,
followed by the main landing gear.

Both nose landing gear wheels separated due

to the severe impact and the aircraft finally
stopped on the runway centerline resting on its
nose landing gear axle.

(fig.2) Sequence of events from Case Study 2

Operational Considerations
Flare Height

The FCOM recommends a flare manoeuvre at

around 30ft for an A320 family aircraft in a
stabilized condition.

The flare described in the case study 2 was

initiated too early at 110 ft RA and autothrust
was kept engaged. This Led to the aircraft
crossing the runway threshold with a vertical

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 crossing the runway threshold with a vertical
speed close to 0 ft/min.

Thrust Lever Management

The autothrust is active and targets the

approach speed or selected speed as long as
thrust levers are not retarded to IDLE detent.

In this event, the aircraft descent rate was

almost 0 ft/min at the runway threshold ① .
The A/THR was still active (thrust levers
remained in CLB detent) and targeting the
approach speed. This led the aircraft to float
above the runway for several seconds until the
PF retarded the thrust levers in step ②.

Pitch Control

The FCTM states that the PF must avoid using

nose down inputs once flare is initiated. The PF
can release the back stick input slightly as
required.

In step ③ of this event, the aircraft pitch down

effect due to the full forward stick input,
combined with the aircraft's descent rate,
resulted in a heavy impact of the nose landing
gear with the runway surface.

Go-Around Decision

The FCTM states that if a normal touchdown

point cannot be reached, a go-around (or
rejected landing) should be performed.

In this event, the appropriate action would have

been for the PF to initiate a go-around when
the aircraft was in a float condition above the
runway.

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 RECIPE FOR A SAFE LANDING
The recommendations below summarize the
procedures and techniques provided in the
FCOM and FCTM.

Be stabilized
A safe flare can only be achieved when the
aircraft is stabilized, meaning that all of the
flight parameters areas expected, including:

the aircraft is on its expected final flight

path (lateral and vertical)
speed is close to Vapp, and
wings are level.

If the aircraft reaches the flare height at the

correct speed and it is on the expected flight
path, then a normal flare technique will lead to
a safe landing.

PM must call out any flight

parameter deviation
Careful monitoring of the flight parameters
including speed, pitch, bank and vertical speed,
enables the PM to raise the attention of the PF
to any deviation during the final approach. This
will enable the PF to respond accordingly and
initiate a go-around, if required.

Refer to the FCOM SOP for Approach for more

information about the PM callout related to the
flight parameter deviation threshold.

Flare at the right time

Flare should be initiated at around 30 ft RA
(A220/A300/A310/A320) / 40 ft

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 (A220/A300/A310/A320) / 40 ft
(A330/A340/A350/A380) in stabilized
conditions.

Factors that may require an earlier initiation of

the flare:

Steeper approach slope (more than the

nominal 3°)
Increasing runway slope or rising terrain
before the runway threshold
Tailwind
High airport elevation.

(fig.3) Factors requiring an earlier flare

Flare correctly
Airbus Fly-by-wire aircraft

The PF should apply a progressive and gentle

back stick order until touchdown.

The PF must avoid forward stick inputs once

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 The PF must avoid forward stick inputs once
flare is initiated. The PF can gradually release
the back stick input if needed. The PF must
perform a go-around If a normal touchdown
point cannot be reached.

Any forward stick input after flare is initiated

will increase the risk of landing on NLG with
hard impact.

(fig.4) Flare technique

A300/A310 aircraft

The PF must start the flare with a positive and

prompt back pressure on the control column to
break the descent rate. The PF must then
maintain a constant and positive back input on
the control column until touchdown.

Retard!
A320/A330/A340/A350/A380 aircraft

The 20 ft “RETARD” auto callout is a reminder,

not an order. The PF can retard the thrust
levers earlier or later depending on the
conditions.

The PF must ensure that the thrust levers are

at idle in any case, by touchdown at the latest,
to enable automatic extension of the ground
spoilers.

Delaying the retard of the thrust levers may

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 increase the landing distance because the
autothrust will target Vapp or the selected
speed until it is disconnected by moving the
levers to the IDLE detent.

A220 aircraft

The A220 is different from the rest of the

Airbus family, because when the thrust levers
are engaged, they continuously respond to
autothrust commands. The A220 does not
have any callout for retard. The Flight Mode
Annunciator displays the status of the
autothrust (when it is armed and active) at the
top of the PFD or the HUD. When the
autothrust RETARD function is activated, it will
automatically reduce the thrust levers to idle.
When the autothrust RETARD function is
armed, it will be activated at 30 ft AGL(except
in the case of an autoland, when it will be
activated between 20 and 15 ft AGL depending
on the condition).

If the autothrust is not armed or if the

autothrust RETARD function is not activated,
the flight crew manually retards the thrust
levers to idle at 30 ft AGL.

Note that the A220 ground spoiler is activated

if the thrust levers are at or near the idle
position.

A300/A310 aircraft

If autothrust is engaged, the PF monitors

throttle reduction to idle at 30 ft. If the thrust is
controlled manually, the PF retards throttles
progressively to idle at 20-30 ft. The PF should
hold a positive back pressure input on the

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 hold a positive back pressure input on the
control column to counter the nose-down
pitching moment as the thrust is reduced.

Maintain the aircraft pitch in the

case of a bounce
The FCTM recommends to maintain the pitch
attitude in the case of a light bounce at
landing. The aircraft will make a second lighter
touchdown and the landing roll can continue.

(fig.5) Management of a light bounce

The FCTM recommends to maintain the pitch

attitude and initiate a go-around in the case of
a high bounce . Maintaining the pitch attitude,
and counteracting any pitch-up tendency due
to the thrust increase, enables the flight crew
to avoid a tail strike and ensure a softer
secondary touchdown should this occur.

(fig.6) Management of a high bounce

Be go-around minded
The PF must perform a go-around if any
parameter deviation becomes excessive, or if
the aircraft is destabilized just prior to the flare.

If the aircraft floats above the runway, the flight

crew must initiate a go-around instead of
attempting to recover the situation.

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 The PF can abort the landing and go-around at
any time until the thrust reversers are selected.
However, when the reversers are selected, the
landing must be continued.

Avoid Excessive Rotation Rate in a

Go-around close to the Ground
When the flight crew initiates a go-around
close to the ground, they must avoid an
excessive rotation rate to limit the risk of tail
strike.

The flight crew must wait until the aircraft is

safely established in the go-around before
retracting the flaps by one step and the landing
gear.

The landing phase is very demanding and it

requires good coordination between the
flight crew. The FCOM procedure and FCTM
provide the recommended techniques that
must be carefully followed to ensure a safe
landing.
The Pilot Flying must ensure that the
aircraft is established on the expected final
approach path at the approach speed. They
will apply progressive back stick input at
the correct height, which has been
determined depending on external
parameters. Any forward stick inputs must
be avoided once flare is initiated. The
thrust levers must be retarded to IDLE, by
touchdown at the latest, for the ground
spoilers to deploy.

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 In the case of a bounce at touchdown, the
PF must maintain the pitch attitude and
decide to either continue the landing if the
bounce was light, or to go-around if it is a
high bounce. In the case of a high bounce,
the PF must not attempt to land the aircraft
by applying nose down input on the
sidestick.
The PM also plays an essential role
throughout the entire landing
sequence.The PM is expected to call out
any deviation of the flight parameter to the
PF, which will ensure that the PF can react
accordingly or initiate a go-around if the
deviation cannot be corrected in a timely
manner. Avoiding an excessive rotation
rate of the aircraft for a go-around initiated
close to the ground will prevent a tail
strike.
The PF must be prepared for a go-around,
and initiate a go-around in the case of late
destabilization or if the aircraft floats
above the runway. A go-around can be
initiated at any time during flare or landing
roll until thrust reversers are selected.

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