Originally Posted by Doors to Automatic
But surely a bounce during a go around would have been a softer "landing" than that which seemed to be witnessed? (due to the additional power already being applied)
Sounds like a hard bounce and go-around (probably due to last minute wind-shift?) Is this common in periods of inclement weather? Must say I have never seen one.
It takes several seconds for the engines to spool up, so it is quite possible, even likely, that full go-around power was not yet available at the moment of touchdown (13 seconds for a 707 are probably not that far off, although I'd 'guesstimate' something like "twen-ty-one, twen-ty-two, twen-ty-three, twen-ty-four, twen-ty-five" myself - that surely can seem an eternity). Also, it's physically impossible to stop the descent instantaneously: that whole mass of the airplane needs to be turned around from its descent into a lift, and that takes another few seconds. This is why low-altitude wave-offs, initiated just before or during the flare manoeuvre,
will result in momentary touchdown.
Does this happen often? Well, no, but it's not that unlikely either. Sudden windshifts at low altitude can occur, and I've actually witnessed a 737 doing a go-around at cat IIIa minimums in low visibility conditions, just gently touching the runway. In this particular case I still think it's more likely that the bounce occured during, not before, the go-around manoeuvre. That doesn't rule out the possibility that this go-around was initiated after the touchdown, but of these two options, the latter is just less probable.