Hard Landing by Omni at Shannon
 

Omni Air International flight OY-346 arrived at Shannon from Bangor in the US state of Maine shortly before 8.00pm last night. The civilian airline transports troops for the US military and is largest carrier of military personnel through Shannon.

According to sources, the Boeing 767-300ER jet ‘bounced’ on landing before touching down a second time ‘very heavy’.

One source said the jet bounced 30 feet back into the air before landing, however, this has not been confirmed.

An airport spokesperson confirmed an incident occurred but said operations at Shannon were not affected and that the runway did not sustain any damage.



It’s known that weather conditions in the area at the time were poor with turbulence reported also. It’s understood the crew of the Omni flight and other aircraft were advised of the turbulence at the airport shortly before landing.

The aircraft landed shortly before 8.00pm and was later parked on a remote taxiway where it was inspected by engineers and where it will also be examined by air accident investigators today.

Buckling of the forward fuselage could be seen stretching from one side to the other over the roof of the jet. The damage is understood to be ‘significant’.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....cb68134ad.jpeg

From AvHerald I think these are the metars that you want for the landing at 1956Z/local:

Nice picture in Simon's article: http://avherald.com/h?article=4d449dfc&opt=2048

Is it possible to make a "soft" landing in a 76? ;)

If your good you can roll it on most of the time however in that WX you better have your A game.

Wind was basically straight down the RWY.

Been to SNN? Wind from the west to north western sector at half that value can bring interesting turbulence and windsheer. I reckon they got unlucky however if it was as high a bounce as has been reported then they are probably regretting not going around. Grace of god and all that; I’ve seen worse damage on a 767 fuselage

At least they're in the right place, there are two companies there with plenty of Boeing structural repair experience.
Having flown into and worked in SNN many times, I believe that landing there could be challenging especially with the current weather conditions.

The Lufthansa hangars at the 24 end of the runway cause nasty WS when the wind is gusting from the west / north west. Last significant victim was an Aer Arann ATR with a nose gear collapse. These Omni guys ain't the first and won't be the last.

and in reply

Odd!

First time I've ever seen reference to the 767 as being a difficult aircraft in these conditions. The only other aircraft where is the MD11 because of widely documented centre of gravity issues.

Would be interested in anecdotal accounts of the 767 landing in turbulence!!

I've never thought of the '76 as a hard aircraft to land compared to other planes I've flown. With an aft CG the nose really wants to rise on touchdown and the pitch forces are light so it's easy to get the tail skid if you're not paying attention. And, with the 12 foot winglets sometimes a crosswind seems a little trickier than without. This Omni plane didn't have the winglets apparently. As with many large planes the 767 is hard to grease on at very light weights since 'the oleos aren't compressed'. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Those hidden horizontal vortices generated down low by nearby airfoil shaped hangars and terminal buildings are a very real hazard in my experience. At places like KIX and HKG I've been known to congratulate myself on a perfect crosswind alignment as the RA calls 'Fifty' only to be embarrassed 10 feet lower as all hell breaks loose and I fight the swirl down to the runway. Also, some runways like those at NRT will be surrounded by wooded areas. The steady wind will suddenly drop off as you hit the shear area below the treetop level. That may have been a factor in the fatal FedEx MD-11 crash at NRT in 2009.

Obviously, if you have a significant bounce in any large plane the thing to do is go around. In this case perhaps there was a bounce and on the second touchdown there was perceived urgency to lower the nosewheel resulting in a derotation mishap.

Both 757's and 767's seem to have a significant number of these incidents for some reason. The 767 is light in pitch on touchdown, I'd say the 757 heavy in pitch as you derotate. Or, is it the other way around, I never could remember... ;)

Here's a Boeing article on derotation mishaps:

Aero 18 - Hard Nosegear Touchdowns