Preliminary information from Colombian investigators indicate that an ATR 72-600 suddenly sank in the moments before touchdown, leading to hard landing and tail-strike.
The Regional Express Airlines aircraft (HK-5041) suffered structural damage during the accident, which occurred on 7 September as it landed at Manizales in central Colombia.
It had been arriving from Bogota as flight AV4852, operating on behalf of Avianca.
French investigation authority BEA, citing its Colombian counterpart, says the aircraft experienced a "sudden sink" over the threshold of runway 10.
Meteorological data for the city's La Nubia airport at time of the accident, around 11:00, show no adverse weather conditions, but indicate a tailwind.
Video images circulated on social media, purporting to show the tail-strike from surveillance cameras, suggest the impact occurred about 100m from the threshold, almost immediately after the aircraft pitched nose-up in the flare.
None of the 49 passengers and five crew members was seriously injured. Cirium fleets data shows the aircraft is a 2014 airframe.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
