Hard landing causing structural damage — DHC-8-Q400

Summary

A QantasLink DHC-8-Q400 sustained a hard landing at Port Hedland Airport in gusty crosswind conditions. The hard landing exceeded the manufacturer's 1.72G exceedance limit, triggering a mandatory structural inspection. No injuries to 36 passengers and 3 crew; the aircraft was taken out of service for inspection.

Investigation Findings (4)

1. 01A sudden wind gust immediately prior to touchdown caused the aircraft to sink rapidly.
2. 02The first officer was the handling pilot; the captain did not intervene despite recognising the approach was destabilised.
3. 03Post-landing inspection identified minor cracking of a main landing gear side brace attachment — no flight safety impact.
4. 04QantasLink amended its operations manual to lower the Crew Resource Management intervention threshold for unstabilised approaches in gusty conditions.