MD-83
Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
General Maintenance Action
Human Factors; Weather
ATIS reported winds 280/16. We were properly configured and on speed and glide about 2;000 feet AGL. I was hand flying the visual approach to Runway 30 in ZZZ. No ILS was available. I was following the Locilizer (LOC approach) and using the VASI. The autothrottles were moving rapidly forward and aft; so I clicked them off. During the landing flare; we noticed gusty conditions. Tower never gave us a wind report; which would have advised us of gusts. Per company policy we bugged ref speed plus 5 knots. Had we known about gusts we would have added much more speed; per company policy. At about 300 feet (not long after I clicked off the autothrottles) I got a 10 knot increase in speed; I called out 'correcting' and began slowly pulling power back. During the flare; Captain called out 'right on bug' as I was on ref speed. When we touched down; we were at ref speed. In the flare; as we were landing; the back end of the plane suddenly sank down as we hit another gust. Before we had time to add more power; the mains touched down hard. After we parked the plane; both pilots performed an inspection; and found no damage to tail; (no tail strike); wing; (no wing strike) or any damage whatsoever to the outside of the aircraft. Also; the lead Flight Attendant told us she was fine; and that no baggage or over head bins dislodged; and no O2 masks came down during the landing. The PSU unit in the back of the plane had a small corner piece hanging; and the cabinets in one of the aft lav's opened up. That was the only evidence of a hard landing event. No passenger requested any medical help. After the passenger's got off the plane; I looked up [local] weather reports; and it showed winds reporting 300/18G25. We could have asked for a wind check. The gusts were reported to start later; but the wind gusts were a factor. We could have asked what the winds were. Adding another 5 knots or so would have made all the difference.
I was the PNF. Weather conditions [were] sky clear winds 280-16 landing Runway 30. Approach Control had us high coming in and my First Officer slowed up early to be able to get down. We configured early with the slats and slowed to 210. I set up the back course. As we were descending my First Officer was asking for Flaps 11 then Flaps 15. On about a 7-8 mile final I informed my First Officer that he was high and fast so he asked for gear down. As soon as the gear was down he asked for Flaps 28 then Flaps 40 ref plus 5; landing checklist. He was established on the localizer and following the PAPI's on the left side of the runway. He was on speed and glide path around 2;000 feet AGL. At about 300 feet we got a little wind shear because his speed jumped up about ten knots. The autothrottles were fighting to hold the airspeed so he kicked off the autothrottles. At 200 feet AGL I called out that he was on bug. He gave the engines a little more power and maintained ref plus 5. As he transitioned over the runway it seemed like the aircraft stopped flying. The back side dropped out and hit real hard. Next the right wing dipped down and I called my controls. I pushed the nose over to get the nose gear on the runway and lifted up the right wing to make sure we didn't hit the wing tip. We rolled out normal with the spoilers deployed and thrust reversers. Exited the runway at A2 then right on A to the gate. We parked the aircraft and filled out paperwork. As soon as the last passenger was off the aircraft I went and did a walk around to make sure there was no damage done or if there was fluid leaking from anywhere. There were no indications of damage to the aircraft. I went back up to the cockpit and discussed with my First Officer that it might be considered a hard landing. I called Maintenance Control and informed them of a possible hard landing and asked what the definition of a hard landing was. I was on the phone with him for 4 minutes. As soon as I was done with Maintenance Control I called my Dispatcher to inform him of what was going on. He asked me if there were any injuries and that is when I asked my lead FA. She told me to hold on and came back and told me that number three said he had neck pain and one of the two in the back of the aircraft had back pain. I informed my Dispatcher and he told me to have them call crew services. My First Officer; while I was talking on the phone informed the station to not board the aircraft. Then my First Officer went and did a walk around also to make sure that I didn't miss something. He came back up and told me that the aircraft looked fine. Right after talking to Maintenance Control I put a write up in the Maintenance log of a possible hard landing. After parking at the gate my First Officer checked on his phone the winds. The winds were now showing gusting to 25 knotsIf the Control Tower had informed us that the winds were now gusting to 25 knots we would have bumped the speed up 7 knots. I believe that with the extra speed this would have not happened. Our weather packet showed the winds to start gusting three hours after our arrival.
MD83 flight crew reports a hard landing. The winds were reported as steady at 18 knots and were in fact gusting to 25; which may have contributed to the incident.