Effects of flare operation on landing safety: A study based on ANOVA of real flight data

Final approach and landing are generally defined as the two riskiest stages of flight due to their much higher accident rates than other phases. Long landings and hard landings are two kinds of abnormal events frequently occurring during the landing phase and also significantly increase the risk of landing accidents. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of pilot's critical flare operation on long and hard landing events based on real flight Quick Access Recorder (QAR) data. 293 flight QAR data samples were collected from airlines and 21 flight parameters from each sample were selected and calculated by programing. Then, an analysis of variance was carried out for finding flight parameter characteristics of abnormal landing at a flare initial point and in the whole flare process. Lastly, two regression models were developed to analyze the potential correlations between flare operations and landing performance. The study found that flare operation would greatly influence touchdown distance and touchdown vertical acceleration, the control column and throttle operation in flare would affect landing performance conjointly and pilots' quick and steady pulling up of the columns and softer throttle reduction are helpful for a better flare performance. These findings could be the basis of developing a mathematical and quantitative model for further revealing the relationships between pilot operations and landing performance, which can also be applied in practice to prevent landing incidents and even accidents.