Slow Approach Led To Swiss Butt Scrape At London City

It's been almost a year since that Swiss International Air Lines RJ100 landed hard on its rear end at London City Airport but investigators from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch have finally released their findings. It appears that a wind shift, combined with a below normal approach speed led to a sudden sink rate right before landing. In an attempt to stop the sink the pilot instinctively pitched the nose of the RJ up 9.3° which led to a tail strike before the main gear touched down. The violent tail strike cracked nine frames in the aft fuselage, damaged stringers, and obviously by the picture, extensively damaged the tail skin. "The aircraft was already in a low-energy state," says the AAIB. "Then the thrust was reduced and this reduction, and the loss of headwind component, both made the situation worse." London City is known for having one of the most difficult and steepest approaches due to its location and noise sensitivity issues which demands a "high degree of accuracy" especially when it comes to managing final approach speeds. Just check out this video from another Swiss RJ100 as it goes bouncing down the runway after slamming onto the deck at London City. Swiss has already amended its training program for operations at London City to prevent these types of incidents from reoccurring.



[Flight Global]

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