C-GSJB

On August 14, 2025, about 1724 central daylight time (CDT), Air Canada Rouge flight ROU1717, an Airbus A319 airplane, registration C-GSJB, touched down short of runway 20L while landing at the Nashville International airport (BNA), Nashville, TN. There were no injuries to the ninety-three occupants onboard. A postincident inspection revealed that the airplane sustained minor damage. The regularly scheduled international passenger flight was operating under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 129 from Lester B Pearson International airport (CYYZ), Toronto, Ontario, Canada to BNA.

As part of the investigative process, the NTSB invited qualified parties to participate in the investigation, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In accordance with the provisions of Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, an Accredited Representative from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB), the State of Registry for the airplane, with Air Canada as their technical advisor. And an Accredited Representative from the Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA), the State of Design, with Airbus and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) as their technical advisors.

The parties were organized into specialized investigative groups, each led by an NTSB group chair. These groups focused on the areas of Operations, Air Traffic Control (ATC), Meteorology, Cockpit Voice Recorder and Flight Data Recorder.

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

The flight crew consisted of a Line Indoctrination Training Captain, seated in the right seat, and serving as the pilot monitoring (PM), and a captain candidate, seated in the left seat, serving as the pilot flying (PF).

The crew reported that ATC initially instructed them to expect a visual approach to runway 20L. However, due to rain over the airport, ATC later amended the clearance to the RNAV (GPS) Y 20L approach (see figure 1). The flight was cleared to the initial approach fix (IAF) WAYLN, then given radar vectors and subsequently cleared for the approach.

Figure 1. Instrument approach plate for RNAV (GPS) Y RWY 20L approach.

The airplane was configured for landing at approximately 1,100 feet and met the operator’s stabilized approach criteria at both 1,000 and 500 feet; however, the stable call at 500 feet was missed by the PM. At the decision altitude (DA), the autopilot was disconnected. Around 200 feet above ground level (AGL), the crew encountered heavy rain, and the PF requested activation of the windshield wipers.

Shortly after, the PF stated he had “lost the runway” but still believed the runway environment was visible. He asked whether a go-around should be initiated. The PM, who could see the runway environment—albeit distorted by rain—and believed the aircraft was on the glide path, responded that they were good to continue.

At 20 to 30 feet radio altitude, the crew retarded the thrust levers to idle. About the same time, the PF was startled to see the runway threshold lights directly ahead of the aircraft’s nose. The crew perceived that the airplane touched down on the blast pad, a paved surface preceding the runway threshold. The remainder of the landing rollout and taxi were uneventful.

Airport video surveillance captured the incident sequence and showed the airplane as it touched down short of the runway. Following the initial touchdown, the airplane rolled onto the pavement and impacted a runway threshold light.

A post-incident inspection by airport personnel revealed that the left main landing gear contacted an airport service road approximately 420 feet short of the runway threshold.

The right main landing gear touched down approximately 52 feet short of the paved surface, which was about 430 feet short of the runway threshold (see figure 2).

Figure 2. The left photo shows the left main tires witness marks on service road. The right photo shows the right main tires witness marks in grass short of paved surface. (Source: BNA airport.)

A post flight inspection by maintenance personnel revealed mud on the airplane’s empennage and minor damage to one of the airplane’s tires.

Figure 3. Incident airplane's empennage. (Source: BNA airport.)

The investigation continues.