Airbus A321 N315DN

Summary

On 23 June 2017 at about 17:38 local time, a Airbus A321 registered N315DN, operated by Delta Air Lines, Inc., was involved in an accident near Atlanta, Georgia, United States. 199 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 June 2017 at 17:38

Classification

Accident

Location

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Hartsfield - Jackson Atlanta I (ATL)

Coordinates

33.6494, -84.4153

Aircraft

Airbus A321

Registration

N315DN

Category

Airplane

Year built

2016

Engines

2

Operator

Delta Air Lines, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Boston → Atlanta

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DCA17LA145

Nobody was injured.

The first officer's improper landing flare, which resulted in a hard, bounced landing, and the flight crew’s improper bounced landing recovery procedures.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The first officer was on her third day of initial operating experience training and was the pilot flying for the flight; the captain, a check airman, was the pilot monitoring. The first officer reported that this was her fourth landing in an A320-series airplane and her first landing in an A321 model. According to the captain and first officer, the flight was cleared for the visual approach, the approach was stable, and wind was out of the southwest at 12 kts with gusts up to 20 kts. The first officer recalled that the captain instructed her to "pull back pull back" before touchdown. Both pilots reported that the landing was “firm.” The first officer stated that after landing, the captain provided feedback that she flared a little low (near 20 ft above ground level [agl] instead of 30 ft agl) and did not provide enough pitch back on the side stick. Both crewmembers reported that the first officer was late to flare on previous landings. A company pilot who was seated in the cockpit jumpseat reported the captain was providing instruction to the first officer during the flight about the nuances of the A321. He stated that the descent and arrival were uneventful up until the flare and that the first officer “never really performed any type of flare maneuver even as the captain repeatedly called for the F/O to perform one." Subsequent preflight inspection of the airplane by the next flight crew revealed an area of abrasion damage to the aft fuselage about 13 ft long by 2 ft wide affecting two skin panels. The fuselage skin was abraded through in several areas with damage to the underlying stringers and frames. Several frames, stringers, and shear clips were also bent and/or fractured.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.