Incident Overview

Date: Wednesday 18 April 2001
Aircraft Type: Airbus A321-211
Owner/operator: Airtours International
Registration Number: G-VOLH
Location: Madeira-Funchal International Airport (FNC/LPFU) – ÿ Portugal
Phase of Flight: Landing
Status: Substantial
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 174
Component Affected: Aircraft tailAircraft tail
Investigating Agency: GPIAAGPIAA
Category: Accident
A321-211 G-VOLH departed Manchester for a charter flight to Funchal Airport (Madeira Island) at 07:26 UTC. The flight was uneventful until encountering a windshear at GELO, resulting in a high sink rate and subsequent landing with significant damage. The commander reduced the descent rate with full aft side stick, but this exacerbated the situation, leading to a heavy landing and tail contact with the runway.A321-211 G-VOLH departed Manchester for a charter flight to Funchal Airport (Madeira Island) at 07:26 UTC. The flight was uneventful until encountering a windshear at GELO, resulting in a high sink rate and subsequent landing with significant damage. The commander reduced the descent rate with full aft side stick, but this exacerbated the situation, leading to a heavy landing and tail contact with the runway.

Description

At 07:26 UTC hours, the A321-211 G-VOLH departed Manchester for a charter flight with Funchal Airport (Madeira Island) as destination. The flight was an uneventful transit until the landing. The aerodrome was clearly visible and the commander made a visual approach in accordance to the aerodrome STAR charts. The approach was stabilized, despite the aircraft encountering a windshear at GELO. At 30 feet RA the commander noticed that the aircraft had developed a high sink rate and he attempted to decrease the rate of descent with full aft side stick but the aircraft landed heavily and bounced. At the second touch down the aircraft tail contacted the runway. The aircraft had suffered tail structural damage. There were no personal injuries Causes The investigation concluded that the marked backing of the wind, probably due to turbulence from the adjacent high ground, had caused the loss of headwind component. The application of full aft side stick had reduced the vertical speed of the initial touch down. In an attempt to cushion the second touch down by maintaining a degree of aft side stick during the bounce, the aircraft had continued to pitch up beyond the aircraft geometry limit causing the tail section to contact the runway.

Primary Cause

Windward backing caused by turbulence from adjacent high ground.Windward backing caused by turbulence from adjacent high ground.

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