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| Date: | Monday 4 April 2022 |
| Time: | 12:45 LT |
| Type: |  ATR 72-600 (72-212A) |
| Owner/operator: | Air Tahiti |
| Registration: | F-ORVS |
| MSN: | 1192 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2014 |
| Engine model: | P&W Canada PW127 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor, repaired |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | Atuona Airport, Marquesas Islands (AUQ/NTMN) -
 French Polynesia
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Nuku Hiva Airport (NHV/NTMD) |
| Atuona Airport, Marquesas Islands (AUQ/NTMN) | |
| Investigating agency: | BEA |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Air Tahiti flight VT823, an ATR 72-600, suffered a hard touchdown during an attempted landing at Atuona Airport, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
The aircraft was at about 100 ft on final approach when a downdraft pushed the aircraft towards the ground. The crew could not avoid a hard contact with the runway and performed a go-around.
The flight landed normally on the second attempt.
The incident aircraft was ferried to Papeete on 14 April 2022.
Contributing Factors
The crew’s choice of the RNP 20 approach, which appears to have exposed them more to the risks of turbulence and wind shear, may have been influenced by an inadequate meteorological service at Hiva Oa–Atuona. This service did not provide the level of accuracy needed for pilots to select the most suitable runway for approach and landing.
Factors that may have contributed to continuing the approach despite the stabilization criteria no longer being met, and then to the hard landing:
- Accepting the destabilization of the approach without interrupting it, due to recurrent turbulent conditions on runway 20.
- The operator’s definition of stabilization criteria that were not sufficiently adapted to a steep approach.
- Difficulty in effectively responding to wind shear at low altitude due to the absence of detection systems, either on the ground or on board.
The simultaneous opposing control inputs resulting from the captain’s reflex action led to the unintended disconnection of the autopilot (PUM).
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://bea.aero/en/investigation-reports/notified-events/detail/serious-incident-to-the-atr-72-registered-f-orvs-operated-by-air-tahiti-on-04-04-2022-at-atuona/
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Apr-2022 15:51 | harro | Added |
| 15-Apr-2022 15:52 | harro | Updated [Location, Narrative, ] |
| 12-Aug-2025 12:46 | ASN | Updated [Narrative, Accident report, ] |
| 24-Sep-2025 13:03 | ASN | Updated [Accident report, ] |
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