A report into the hard landing of Network Aviation Fokker 100 at Nifty Aerodrome in WA in October 2012 has been released.
The report has attributed the incident to dry windshear and a sudden 32kt tailwind on final approach which saw the airspeed drop from 133 knots to 110 knots and the rate of descent increase to 1000 feet per minute. The aircraft undershot the runway, touching down on the threshold about 1000 feet short of the normal touchdown point and bounced, resulting in severe wrinkling of the rear and underside fuselage, and compression damage to the main landing gear.
The Fokker 100, registered VH-NQE was operating a resource charter flight from Perth to Nifty. The weather forecast was for high-based cumulus cloud and isolated thunderstorms with a local temperature on arrival of 38 degrees C. A windshear caution was indicated 9km out from landing on a straight approach, and the approach speed was increased and airbrake deployed as a precaution. It wasn’t until the aircraft was just 80 feet above ground level that the windshear was encountered, and the loss of airspeed occurred over a period of just three seconds.
The aircraft was ferried to Singapore and repaired. A detailed final report is available at here.
