A hard landing at New York LaGuardia airport which caused the write-off of a Southwest Airlines jet in 2013 has been blamed on pilot error, the National Transportation Board said.
The NTSB said the landing should have been aborted and a new attempt made.
"The captain’s failed attempt to recover from an unstabilized approach by transferring airplane control at low altitude instead of performing a go-around," the NTSB said.
The July 22, 2013 accident injured eight of the 144 passengers, one of whom has filed a lawsuit claiming damages.
Investigators found the plane’s first officer was piloting until the captain took control just moments before landing.
"It was the captain’s failure to comply with standard operating procedures during the approach. The first officer was conducting the approach, and the captain took control away, but not until the plane was 27 feet above the ground."
This meant that neither the pilot or first officer were able to monitor the altitude and pitch attitude effectively.
"The captain should have called for a go-around well before this point in the approach instead of trying to salvage the landing," the NTSB report concluded.
