Taiwan investigators have recommended that EVA Air change its pilot training procedures following a 20 November 2001 incident in which a Boeing MD-11 suffered significant damage in a hard landing.
The Taiwan Aviation Safety Council (ASC) report recommends that EVA captains be trained for improved situational awareness, says ASC accident investigation division director K F Chou. The pilots' manual is to be amended to define more clearly the manoeuvring skills required to land the trijet, and the instructors' manual changed to define procedures for training pilots to deal with a situation in which a late flare can lead to over-control of the aircraft.
The first officer was the handling pilot on a normal approach to Taipei Airport. The flare was late, however - just before touchdown, resulting in a hard landing followed by a bounce. The co-pilot attempted to push the nose down, and Chou says the "slight delay" between control inputs and aircraft reaction caused him to "over-control" the aircraft.
Chou says the MD-11 bounced a second time, causing substantial damage to the structure in the nose gear well and visible skin wrinkling. There was also damage in the cabin. No one was injured, but the aircraft was grounded for six months.
Source: Flight International
