What the profile screens for
Recorded air/ground transitions and vertical motion indicate the aircraft became airborne again after initial touchdown.
Why it matters
A bounce can develop into high loads, nose-gear contact, tail strike, runway excursion, or a complex go-around.
Build the event around relationships—not one number.
Define the operating context
Identify the landing / go around state, aircraft configuration, location, and any required external data before applying logic.
Screen the signal relationship
Use validated combinations of weight-on-wheels, radio altitude, normal acceleration; avoid treating one isolated value as the whole event.
Confirm it is a genuine event
Check polarity, units, source, recording rate, dropouts, air/ground logic, persistence, and false-positive mechanisms.
Connect data to the safety question
Review procedures, reports, weather, airport and traffic context, exposure, recurrence, and the strength of the related barriers.
Recorded signals that may help explain the event.
Normal acceleration
Acceleration measured broadly along the aircraft's vertical body axis; its touchdown peak can help characterize a landing load when interpreted with other signals.
Open parameter guide ↗ftRadio altitude
Height derived from radio altimetry, normally representing the distance from the aircraft to terrain directly below within the system's operating range.
Open parameter guide ↗ft/min or m/sVertical speed
The aircraft's vertical rate. Different recorded sources and smoothing can produce materially different values, especially during flare and touchdown.
Open parameter guide ↗degPitch attitude
Aircraft body attitude above or below the local horizontal reference.
Open parameter guide ↗discreteLanding gear status
Command, position, lock, and ground-sensing states associated with the landing gear; these are separate signals with different meanings.
Open parameter guide ↗Questions before conclusions
- Q1
Are weight-on-wheels, radio altitude, normal acceleration valid, correctly decoded, time-aligned, and sampled well enough for this event?
- Q2
What changed immediately before, during, and after the bounced landing indication?
- Q3
How do aircraft configuration, weather, airport geometry, automation state, and crew reports change the interpretation?
- Q4
Which current flight manual, SOP, maintenance, or operator event definition controls the final conclusion?
Safety topics that broaden the event review.
Non-precision approach
Approach risk where continuous vertical guidance is unavailable or not used, emphasizing descent planning, step-down constraints, minima, and path monitoring.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-018 · Approach & landingBounced landing recovery
Recognition and management of rebound after initial runway contact, including the decision to continue, reject the landing, or go around.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-047 · Aircraft systems & airworthinessFlight-control system failure
Failure or degradation of primary or secondary controls, actuators, computers, sensors, protections, or associated indication.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-050 · Aircraft systems & airworthinessDeferred defect management
Risk control when dispatching with permitted inoperative equipment, including combinations, intervals, procedures, placards, and operational context.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-065 · Weather & environmentCrosswind operations
Takeoff and landing in crosswind or gust conditions, including control technique, limits, runway state, alignment, touchdown, and directional control.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-069 · Weather & environmentSand and dust operations
Operational effects of suspended sand, dust storms, brownout, contamination, erosion, low visibility, and engine or sensor exposure.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-070 · Weather & environmentLightning strike
Aircraft exposure to lightning and the resulting inspection, system, structure, communication, sensor, and dispatch considerations.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-087 · Cabin, cargo & dangerous goodsCargo loading
Planning, restraint, distribution, loading, offloading, documentation, special cargo, damage prevention, and verification before flight.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-088 · Cabin, cargo & dangerous goodsDangerous goods
Identification, classification, packaging, declaration, acceptance, segregation, loading, notification, response, and undeclared hazardous material.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-090 · Cabin, cargo & dangerous goodsUnruly passenger
Prevention, recognition, de-escalation, communication, restraint, diversion, reporting, and crew or passenger protection during disruptive behavior.
Open topic profile ↗Hard Landing
A structured guide to recognizing, reporting, analyzing, and responding to a suspected touchdown load exceedance without confusing passenger perception with an engineering determination.
Open topic brief ↗Flight OperationsTail Strike
Understand how aircraft geometry, pitch rate, gear compression, speed, and control technique combine near takeoff or landing.
Open topic brief ↗WeatherCrosswind Operations
Manage alignment, drift, bank, gust response, touchdown sequence, and directional control using aircraft- and operator-specific techniques.
Open topic brief ↗12 useful starting points
Terminology and topic relationships select these links; the publisher source remains authoritative.
High Load Event Reporting
The Airbus Safety First article explains why a pilot report remains central after a suspected high-load event and how recorded reports and analysis tools can support the applicable maintenance process.
Open official sourceSAFO 10001 — Possible effects of Thickened Anti-icing Fluids on Takeoff Rotation for Airplanes withUnpowered Elevator Controls
Official U.S. Federal Aviation Administration material indexed for takeoff and weather. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceA Focus on the Landing Flare
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for approach and landing. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceA Focus on the Takeoff Rotation
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for takeoff. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceA320 Tail strike at Take-Off?
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for takeoff. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceAirbus Crosswind Development and Certification
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for aviation safety. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceHard Landing, a Case Study for Crews and Maintenance Personnel
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for approach and landing and maintenance. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceIncorrect pitch trim setting at takeoff
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for takeoff and flight controls and automation. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourcePreventing Tailstrike During Go-around Near the Ground
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for ground operations. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceAnnex 19 — Safety Management, Third Edition
Annex 19 consolidates ICAO safety-management provisions, including State safety responsibilities, SMS, safety-data collection and processing, and the protection and sharing of safety information.
Open official sourceAnnual Safety Review 2025
EASA's review uses occurrence and accident information to describe performance across aviation domains and to support the European safety-risk-management process.
Open official sourceStatistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents, 1959–2024
Boeing's 56th annual statistical summary organizes commercial-jet accident data using stated definitions and the CAST/ICAO occurrence taxonomy.
Open official source