"At 50 ft agl the flare was initiated, using a progressive aft sidestick input, and at 25 ft agl the thrust levers were closed".
A quote from the AAB report I think this is where the problem started,followed by a firm landing,with a bounce then the incorrect technic used to arrest the rate of descent.
Having flown many hours on most Airbuses 50 ft is far to high to initiate a flare.
Pilots these days with low hours are taught to fly by numbers which this incident shows
It's not so much flying by numbers as teaching people new to the type, some sort of datums to hang their hat on. "Just judge it by Mk1 Eyeball" isn't exactly brilliant advice to someone inexperienced is it? A heavy 321, with a hefty ROD, perhaps it is suitable to start a flare about 50ft? I don't know, I haven't flown one for a long time. Doesn't Airbus even suggest a flare height in it's FCOM? The report also states "However, in practice it is not necessarily apparent to flight crew when an aircraft has bounced and neither crew member perceived the bounce" so criticism about the flare technique after a bounce is perhaps a little unfair.
If that is the case with BA and their cadet provider they should change it to a company that conducts meaningful training. If the problem is inhouse training, it might be indicative of problems in their own training department.
BA use several different companies to train their cadets, all pretty well established and with proven records. Even so, I'm still not convinced what the 'problem' is. Many many cadets managed to land 321s adequately in the almost two years that the FPPs had been flying before this incident. Hardly indicative of a history of poor training is it?
Surely the best thing to do is to train the FPPs to land the A321 properly, rather than some blanket ban which only covers the problem rather than fixing it. Why don't they spend a little money and take them out base training in the 321 for a second day? As for the reverse handling, that has to be one of the most ridiculous SOPs I've ever heard.
The restriction is until completion of LCT, in which training is given on Flap 3 and A321 landings. A second days base training is not deemed necessary. I'm sure you have SOP's that would seem alien and 'ridiculous' to us as well.
