Airbus A320-214 – B-6952

Incident Overview

Date: Tuesday 28 August 2018

Aircraft Type: Airbus A320-214

Owner/operator: Beijing Capital Airlines

Registration Number: B-6952

Location: Macau Airport (MFM) – ÿ Macau

Phase of Flight: Landing

Status: Substantial

Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 166

Component Affected: Aircraft Systems: Primarily the aircraft’s control systems, including autopilot, flight control surfaces, and landing gear, were impacted by the extreme wind conditions. Specifically, the A320’s flight control system and landing gear were directly affected by the wind shear, leading to the bounce and subsequent landing.Aircraft Systems: Primarily the aircraft’s control systems, including autopilot, flight control surfaces, and landing gear, were impacted by the extreme wind conditions. Specifically, the A320’s flight control system and landing gear were directly affected by the wind shear, leading to the bounce and subsequent landing.

Category: Serious incident

Description

Capital Airlines flight 5759, an Airbus A320-214, diverted to Shenzhen Airport (SZX), China, after sustaining damage in a hard landing at Macau Airport. The aircraft departed Beijing Airport at 00:17 UTC (08:17 LT), bound for Macau. Macau Tower controller reported the surface wind to the pilots as 7 knots at 220 degrees (4 knot tailwind and 6 knot crosswind) at 1 minute 25 seconds before touchdown. The ILS approach to runway 34 was continued as the tailwind component was within the company limits of 10 knots. The autopilot was disconnected at 370 feet Radio Altitude (RA). The aircraft then experienced an increasing tailwind component from 9 knots at 200 feet RA (airspeed 139 knots), to 27 knots at 5 feet RA (airspeed 119 knots). After this severe low-level wind shear encounter, the aircraft touched down on the main landing gear with a peak vertical acceleration 2.36G at about 350 metres after the threshold of runway 34. It bounced and touched down again four seconds later on the nose landing gear with peak vertical acceleration 3.41G at about 635 metres after the threshold of runway 34. The nose landing gear bogey broke off and debris was ingested into both engines. At 03:16 UTC (11:16 LT) the captain carried out a go around with low climb rate. ATC informed the flight crews that fire was observed coming out from engine no.1. The captain declared a mayday and sought a suitable airport to land the aircraft. The navigation system was inoperative after the hard landing and the backup navigation system was activated. After evaluating the situation, the flight crew decided to divert to Shenzhen. At 03:57 UTC, the aircraft landed in Shenzhen Baoan International Airport. All persons onboard were evacuated through evacuation slides from door 1 right and door 4 right. Contributing factors First touchdown at 2.36G and bounce 1. Encountered severe low-level wind shear with rapid tailwind increase and downdraft tendency momentarily before touchdown 2. Macau International Airport had no equipment to detect low-level wind shear. 3. The aircraft landed with excessive tailwind. Second touchdown at 3.41G with nose landing gear 1. A normal landing pitch attitude was not maintained after the bounced landing. 2. The thrust levers were moved to idle from above the CLIMB detent during the bounce, this resulted in the activation of the ground spoiler by the PLD function even when the aircraft was actually airborne (due to the memorization of the ground condition for 3 seconds).

Primary Cause

Severe low-level wind shear encountered during the landing, resulting in a rapid increase in wind speed and a bounce, exceeding the aircraft’s capabilities and leading to a loss of control.Severe low-level wind shear encountered during the landing, resulting in a rapid increase in wind speed and a bounce, exceeding the aircraft’s capabilities and leading to a loss of control.

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