British Airways A35K at Tel Aviv on Jan 20th 2020, hard landing

Last Update: January 22, 2020 / 16:42:32 GMT/Zulu time

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Photo of British Airways G-XWBD, Airbus A350-1000 — British Airways G-XWBD, Airbus A350-1000 (Photo credit: lynothehammer1978 / Flickr / License: CC by)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
Jan 20, 2020

Classification
Accident

Cause
Hard landing

Airline
British Airways

Flight number
BA-163

Departure
London Heathrow, United Kingdom

Destination
Tel Aviv, Israel

Aircraft Registration
G-XWBD

Aircraft Type
Airbus A350-1000

ICAO Type Designator
A35K

Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport, Tel Aviv

Airport ICAO Code
LLBG

A British Airways A350-1000, registration G-XWBD performing flight BA-163 (dep Jan 19th) from London Heathrow,EN (UK) to Tel Aviv (Israel), landed on Tel Aviv's runway 12 at 05:32L (03:32Z) but suffered a hard landing. The aircraft rolled out without further incident and taxied to the apron.

The return flight was cancelled. The aircraft remained on the ground in Tel Aviv for about 37 hours, then departed for a ferry flight to London Heathrow. The aircraft is still on the ground in Heathrow about 19 hours after landing in Heathrow.

A passenger reported the ceiling panels came down in the aft galley at touch down.

According to information The Aviation Herald received the hard landing checks revealed damage to the aircraft.

Israel's AIAI confirmed the hard landing and damage to the aircraft.

On Jan 22nd 2020 The Aviation Herald received information that the approach had been stable until about 70 feet AGL. At 70 feet AGL the sink rate increased to 1000 fpm, the pilot monitoring called "SINK RATE". Corrective inputs were made on the pilot flying's side stick, however insufficient to arrest the sink rate. According to flight data a loss of 5 knots of IAS occurred as result of a gust (increasing tailwind) which prompted a nose down input and high rate of descent. Maintenance travelled to Tel Aviv to assess the aircraft, the damage was assessed minor. The aircraft is estimated to return to service on Jan 22nd 2020 as flight BA-163 to Tel Aviv again.

Metars:
LLBG 200550Z 18011KT 9000 FEW033 12/10 Q1023 TEMPO 3000 RA SCT005 FEW015TCU BKN025 RMK SCT064 BKN079 RERA=
LLBG 200520Z 19008KT 7000 -RA FEW006 SCT021 11/10 Q1023 RERA TEMPO 3000 RA SCT005 BKN015 RMK BKN060=
LLBG 200450Z 15008KT 8000 SCT030 12/10 Q1022 TEMPO 3000 RA SCT005 BKN015 RMK BKN061=
LLBG 200420Z 17009KT 9000 FEW008 SCT029 BKN050 11/10 Q1023 RERA TEMPO 5000 RA SCT005 BKN015=
LLBG 200350Z 27004KT 200V320 6000 RA SCT006 BKN018 11/10 Q1023 NOSIG=
LLBG 200320Z 17011KT 6000 RA FEW010 SCT026 BKN048 12/10 Q1022 TEMPO 5000 RA FEW015 BKN030=
LLBG 200250Z 18010KT 7000 -RA FEW021 SCT025 BKN050 12/10 Q1022 TEMPO 5000 RA FEW015 BKN030=
LLBG 200220Z 16007KT 9000 FEW040 12/10 Q1022 TEMPO 5000 RA FEW015 BKN030 RMK SCT054 BKN080 RERA=
LLBG 200150Z 18008KT 8000 -RA FEW013 SCT018 BKN028 12/10 Q1022 TEMPO 5000 RA FEW010 BKN020=
LLBG 200120Z 14009KT 9999 FEW015 SCT025 BKN034 12/10 Q1022 RERA TEMPO 5000 RA FEW010 BKN020=
LLBG 200050Z 17008KT 6000 RA FEW018 SCT022 BKN040 12/11 Q1022 NOSIG=
LLBG 200020Z 16008KT 9999 FEW023 SCT040 12/10 Q1022 TEMPO RA FEW020TCU BKN030 RMK RERA BKN060=
LLBG 192350Z 17009KT 9999 SCT030 12/10 Q1022 TEMPO RA FEW020TCU BKN030 RMK BKN070=
LLBG 192320Z 16007KT 9999 FEW040 12/10 Q1021 TEMPO RA FEW020TCU BKN030 RMK BKN060=
LLBG 192250Z 15010KT 9999 FEW038 13/11 Q1022 TEMPO -RA FEW020TCU BKN030 RMK RERA BKN060=
LLBG 192220Z 15007KT 9999 -RA FEW020 SCT040 12/10 Q1021 RERA NOSIG RMK BKN070=