procedures after hard landing

[TO MEMO]

Hello!

After writing in the thech log about a hard landing, what are the procedures taken by maintenance? Obsviouslly they will inspect landing gear and fuselage, but what else?

I also know that the inspection will vary according to the severity of the landing. Does anyone know how is that determined?

Thank you

[mitzy69]

checks all covered in maintenance manual chapter 5
two parts to the check, if nothing found on the initial part no need to complete the second part.
checks include inspection some times of flap attachments which takes time to gain a view under access panels.
other items to be checked are potable water tank fittings, stand-by compass, flying controls full and free movement, and put back all the oxygen masks that have fallen down in the passenger cabin.
hard landing check could be over in 10 minutes or hours.
the G pulled on landing will be recorded in the computers for all to see on aircraft and in head office thru ACARS. over 2.5 G and the plane may well be bent and not fly till after expensive repairs.

[CV880]

As mitzy says its all in AMM ch 5. Phase 1 basically requires looking for skin wrinkles, popped rivets, buckles, missing fasteners, missing/damaged access panels, leaks, landing gear damage/leaks, etc especially in critical areas identified by the manufacturer. If nought found no need to go to phase 2 which requires more detailed inspection of a damaged area.
On the 747 these days there is a requirement to check all the engine pylon to wing attachments which is hours and hours of work. Gone are the days when you could do the phase 1 inspection in a couple of hours!

[peacock1]

To reply directly to your question, as to how is a hard landing actually determined, this actually happened to a guy I know on the A-320. So, I suppose that my reply is type - specific, or, maybe operator specific.
His response was that, following an undoubted hard landing, in this case, the printer printed several pages of data, from the relevant aircraft sensors, and on-board computers. Data is then sent via acars to the Maintenance Dept. at base, and the required action taken.
In this case, the aircraft tells you!;)