bounce
To land hard and lift off again due to excess momentum.
bounce: landing hard enough to lift off again
A bounce occurs when an aircraft touches down during landing with enough vertical velocity that the landing gear and airframe compress, then rebound elastically, pushing the aircraft back into the air. This is a handling problem that can happen to any pilot, from student to professional, when descent rate is too high at touchdown or the approach is unstable.
The mechanics are straightforward. The landing gear absorbs kinetic energy as it compresses. If that energy exceeds what aerodynamic drag and wheel friction can dissipate, the aircraft rebounds upward. In a light bounce, the pilot may land again cleanly. In a severe bounce, the nose gear lifts first, the fuselage pitches up, and if airspeed drops below flying speed during the rebound, the aircraft can stall or land gear-up. Composite structures and modern nose gear steering have made bounces somewhat less likely to cause structural damage than in earlier decades, but the risk of runway loss, secondary impact, or stall remains serious.
Ground effect contributes to bounce behavior. As the aircraft descends into ground effect, lift increases and sink rate appears to reduce, sometimes deceiving pilots into believing the descent is under control when it is not. A touchdown in ground effect with high vertical velocity creates the conditions for rebound. Heavy aircraft, wide-body jets, and turboprops are prone to extended bounces because their inertia resists the pitch changes needed to regain stable flight.
Preventing and managing bounces
Prevention centers on stable approaches and consistent descent rates. Maintenance crews should verify that oleo shock struts in landing gear are serviced to specification; weak or dead struts compress less and rebound more, increasing bounce severity. Tire pressure, wheel bearing condition, and brake assembly integrity all affect how energy is absorbed at touchdown. Worn or glazed tires have less friction and do less to dampen rebound. Pilots practice go-around procedures: if a bounce is felt at landing, full power and a climb to altitude is safer than attempting to salvage a landing on a bouncing aircraft.