On 3 October 2010, a Boeing 767 landed heavily on Runway 09 at Bristol Airport that resulted in a crease over the fuselage crown. Upon investigation of the incident it was discovered through historic data that the operator had an unusually high rate of hard landings at Runway
09 versus the other runway at Bristol Airport. Prior to this incident the operator had carried out their analysis on an airport by airport basis, the results of which did not indicate an unusually high rate at Bristol. The operator had not analysed and aggregated their heavy landing data
for individual runways as part of their routine analysis of FDM data, thus the high rate at Runway 09 was not identified. In addition to this it was discovered that the operator had not set a threshold limit, above which action should be taken, for the rate of hard landings.
In light of this incident the CAA recommend that all operators ensure that they are analysing their FDM data relating to landings not only by airport, but also by runway. This will ensure that any adverse trends specific to one runway are more readily identifiable. When routinely monitoring data trends, it is important to be able to identify significant changes or deviations from what is deemed to be acceptable. The CAA recommend that operators should establish trigger levels and maximum rates beyond which action should be taken to reduce the occurrence of issues such as individually heavy landings or abnormally frequent firm landings. This should be accomplished in conjunction with aircraft manufacturers and take into
consideration both Airworthiness (structural) and Operational (pilot proficiency) perspectives.
Comments from SAS
Often when we become aware of an issue or situation, if we look deeper we will find that we can draw parallels in other areas and activities of our operation, this of course being a fundamental tenant of a proactive safety Management System – SMS
