At 1444:57, the captain stated that he was setting the condition levers to 86 percent.60 At 1445:02, the first officer called for the before landing checklist. About 1 minute later, the captain stated that he was going to move the power management selector from TO to CLB “just for now” to prevent the condition levers from automatically advancing to 100 percent. However, the CVR did not record the captain repositioning the power management selector back to TO.61 Postaccident documentation of the cockpit switch positions by the Safety Board’s Operations Group confirmed that the power management selector was set to CLB. Therefore, the Safety Board concludes that the captain did not properly follow Executive Airlines’ before landing procedures.
At 1446:39, the SJU local controller cleared flight 5401 to land, and the first
officer turned the airplane left toward the runway and monitored the VASI for glideslope
guidance for the rest of the approach. At 1449:07, the captain told the first officer to keep
the airplane’s nose down or to increase power (to maintain airspeed) because he was
concerned that the airplane was going to balloon. About 2 seconds later, he instructed the
first officer to get the airplane’s nose up, and, at 1449:28, he told the first officer to “power
in a little bit.”62 About 2 seconds later, the airplane crossed the runway threshold at an
airspeed of about 110 KIAS, which was almost 15 knots more than the Vref set on both
pilots’ airspeed indicators (96 KIAS) and 9 knots more than what should have been set.
After crossing the runway threshold, the captain again told the first officer to
“power in a little bit” and not to pull the airplane’s nose up. CVR and FDR data indicated
that the airplane touched down on the runway the first time about 1449:41 and then
skipped and became airborne, reaching an altitude of about 4 feet. Only minor flight
control inputs and/or slight power adjustments would most likely have been necessary to
regain the proper landing attitude and settle the airplane back on the runway. Therefore,
the Safety Board concludes that the flight crew could have completed a successful landing
after the initial touchdown.
After the initial touchdown, the captain took control of the airplane, most likely
because of the first officer’s inexperience. FDR data indicated that he then made several
abrupt changes in pitch and power. Wreckage and impact information and CVR and FDR
data indicated that the captain’s actions after the initial touchdown resulted in the airplane
bouncing on the runway twice. The captain’s inputs made it less likely that he could