There are smooth landings and there are hard landings. Even with a serious impact, no damage is done if the aircraft lands on the main wheels first.
If it lands on the nose wheel first it will probably sustain damage.
When the official report comes out it will probably say that there was a nose-wheel-first impact.
It is quite possible that the passengers and crew have all experienced harder landings than this (the crew would have almost certainly!) - but on the main wheels first and therefore no damage was sustained by the aircraft.
It is also quite possible that the passengers are getting all excited and sueing SSV simply because they have seen the damage to the aircraft, not because of any injuries or extraordinary impact.