US investigators believe an MHIRJ CRJ700 landing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport struck the ground with both wing-tips because its captain did not compensate sufficiently for gusting crosswinds, and then overcorrected.
The Delta Connection aircraft, operated by Endeavor Air, had been inbound on the HOBTT3 arrival from Montgomery, Alabama, on 26 February. It encountered light turbulence during the descent, and the turbulence intensified as the aircraft passed through 1,000ft while aligned with the ILS for Atlanta's runway 27L.
The captain, who was flying, told the National Transportation Safety Board that they disengaged the autopilot to βget a sense of what the aircraft was doingβ, and continued with the approach. About 100ft above the ground, the first officer remarked that the airspeed was 10kt above reference, and the captain slightly adjusted the thrust. The flare was initiated at the 30ft call-out.
βJust at that moment, we seemed to hit a gust of wind, which caused us to balloon and remove crosswind correction,β the captain stated. Investigators found that both wings made ground contact during the overcorrection that followed.
Why crosswind landings bite
A crosswind approach asks the pilot to do two things at once: keep the aircraft tracking the extended centreline while the wind pushes it sideways, and arrive over the threshold aligned with the runway so the landing gear is not subjected to side loads on touchdown. The standard technique in most transport aircraft is to fly the approach crabbed into the wind, then, in the flare, use rudder to straighten the nose and into-wind aileron to stop the aircraft drifting downwind. The result is a wing-low touchdown on the upwind main wheel first.
The difficulty is that this is a continuous balancing act in the last few seconds of flight, at low airspeed and low height, with very little margin. A gust arriving during the flare can balloon the aircraft β briefly increasing lift and float β and unload the control inputs the pilot had already established. Re-establishing them afterwards, close to the ground and with the aircraft settling, is where overcorrection happens: too much aileron in one direction, followed by too much in the other.
Regional jets are particularly exposed here. The CRJ family has relatively low wings and a long, slender wing for its size, which means the geometric clearance between the wing-tip and the runway surface is modest once the aircraft banks. A bank angle that would be unremarkable in the cruise becomes a wing-tip strike a few feet above the tarmac.
The aircraft
The CRJ700 is a 65-to-78-seat regional jet with two engines mounted on the rear fuselage and a T-tail. Endeavor Air is a wholly owned Delta Air Lines subsidiary and one of the largest regional operators in the United States, flying the CRJ family under the Delta Connection banner from hubs including Atlanta, Minneapolis, Detroit and New York.
The NTSB investigation into the event is documented in the docket material now released. Wing-tip strikes require inspection of the wing structure and, where damage is found, repair or replacement of the affected components before the aircraft returns to service.
Sources: FlightGlobal. Featured image: AI-generated by AviationShop. By James Holloway.
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