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DCA22LA004

2021-09-23 · Honolulu, Hawaii, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport PHNL

Current FAA registration · N208HA

Make / Model
AIRBUS A321-271N
Year of manufacture
2018 · 3 years old at event
Engine
IAE PW1133G-JM
Seats / Engines
222 seats · 2 engines
Last airworthiness date
20181101
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A1B06B

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The captain’s improper landing flare, which resulted in an excessive sink rate and subsequent hard landing.

Factual narrative

According to the operator, the captain was the pilot flying, and the first officer was the pilot monitoring for the flight from the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), San Jose, California to the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), Honolulu, Hawaii. The taxi, takeoff, climb, cruise, and descent phases of the flight were uneventful. The crew was vectored for the ILS approach to runway 4R at HNL. The ILS approach was uneventful with the crew achieving all of Hawaiian Airlines stabilized approach criteria at both the 1000 ft and 500 ft AGL. The approach remained uneventful until the flare was initiated at approximately 25 feet AGL. Winds were reported to be approximately 11 kts with gusting up to 18 kts. At this point the captain reported that he felt the aircraft had an accelerated sink rate. To arrest the sink rate, he initiated a slight increase in pitch angle. He then heard an automated audible pitch alert generated by the aircraft and then felt a firm bounce of the aircraft upon initial touchdown. The crew initiated a go-around and had an uneventful approach and landing on runway 04R. Following the landing the crew completed an uneventful taxi and shutdown at the gate. The tailstrike resulted in abrasion damage over an area of about 14 feet long by 2 feet wide along the aft lower fuselage. There also were several fractures to the internal cargo lining support structure and to at least one frame. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Identification/recognition-Pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_DCA22LA004.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). All research papers