Investigation brief · generated 2026-10-09 · source: NTSB public docket and accident database
AIRBUS A321 — Atlanta, GA, USA, 2017-06-23
NTSB number
DCA17LA145
Operator
Delta Air Lines, Inc.
Registration
N315DN
Highest injury
No injury
Regulation
Part 121
Damage
Substantial
Cohort
Part 121 airline
Recorder data
Tier 1 — decoded recorder tables
Every sentence below is taken directly from NTSB records — the accident database, the docket's recorder reports and the Board's findings — with its source noted. Nothing is paraphrased or inferred.
NTSB summary
The first officer was on her third day of initial operating experience training and was the pilot flying for the flight; the captain, a check airman, was the pilot monitoring. The first officer reported that this was her fourth landing in an A320-series airplane and her first landing in an A321 model. According to the captain and first officer, the flight was cleared for the visual approach, the approach was stable, and wind was out of the southwest at 12 kts with gusts up to 20 kts. The first officer recalled that the captain instructed her to "pull back pull back" before touchdown. Both pilots reported that the landing was “firm.” The first officer stated that after landing, the captain provided feedback that she flared a little low (near 20 ft above ground level [agl] instead of 30 ft agl) and did not provide enough pitch back on the side stick. Both crewmembers reported that the first officer was late to flare on previous landings.
A company pilot who was seated in the cockpit jumpseat reported the captain was providing instruction to the first officer during the flight about the nuances of the A321. He stated that the descent and arrival were uneventful up until the flare and that the first officer “never really performed any type of flare maneuver even as the captain repeatedly called for the F/O to perform one."
Subsequent preflight inspection of the airplane by the next flight crew revealed an area of abrasion damage to the aft fuselage about 13 ft long by 2 ft wide affecting two skin panels. The fuselage skin was abraded through in several areas with damage to the underlying stringers and frames. Several frames, stringers, and shear clips were also bent and/or fractured.
The first officer's improper landing flare, which resulted in a hard, bounced landing, and the flight crew’s improper bounced landing recovery procedures.
Verbatim, NTSB determination.
Flight data recorder
Airbus A321 · N315DN — 1,602,296 samples, 66 parameters, 11:23:38.0 to 13:38:40.0.
Parameter
Max
at
Min
at
Final
at
Computed airspeed kts
321.0
13:19:47.5
0.0
11:23:38.0
49.2
13:38:39.5
Vertical acceleration g
1.9
13:38:07.4
0.7
13:38:08.8
1.0
13:38:39.9
Computed from the docket's tabular attachment; times as recorded (local or SRN as published).
Both main gear weight on wheels (WOW) status switched from air to ground; aircraft experienced maximum vertical acceleration of 1.89 g
3
13:38:08
Both main gear WOW status switched briefly back to air
3
13:38:09
Both main gear WOW status switched back to ground; aircraft experienced maximum primary pitch angle of 9.7 degrees nose up, maximum standby pitch angle of 9.8 degrees nose up, and a spike in vertical acceleration of 1.65 g
3
13:38:12
Nose gear WOW status transitioned to ground and the aircraft decelerated using brakes, spoilers, and thrust reversers
3
Extracted by claude-sonnet-5; 8 of 8 stated events verified against the raw recorder data.