Investigation into a hard landing at Algiers by an Aigle Azur Airbus A321 have discovered that the pilot failed to retard the throttles, having earlier complained that he was uncomfortable flying the jet from the right-hand seat.

France’s Bureau d’Enquetes et d’Analyses says the pilot - who had 1,200hr on type and 6,200hr in total - had never flown the A321 in the right-hand seat as a co-pilot, and expressed unease “several times” during the approach to runway 23.

The auto-thrust was operating in the ‘managed’ regime. At 1,300ft the pilot disconnected the autopilot but kept auto-thrust engaged.

Just after the jet started to flare, three automatic ‘retard’ call-outs sounded at a height of 20ft. But the aircraft’s throttle levers were still in the ‘climb’ position when it touched down, at a descent rate of 600ft/min, and bounced.

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