Md-11 flight crew reported wake vortex encounter landing at ind in trail of an airbus. Crew reported...

Narrative:

As the aircraft was leaving 1;000 ft AGL we were stable even thought we were in VMC conditions and on a visual for [runway] 23L. We were left high by indy approach for a visual. [We were] 4;000 ft on base; as the first officer aggressively descended to get on the glideslope. We were told by approach that our spacing looked good with the airbus ahead of us. 5 mile space is what we were told. [We] contacted tower [and] checked in with tower; cleared to land. Winds at the time were variable at 3 KTS. As we left 1;000 ft AGL on glideslope we had gotten some of the wake turbulence from the airbus because we had gone below on the glideslope est. 1 dot but we started to bounce around more than normal [because of] some wake turbulence. After the first officer corrected for that with power a fairly large amount of power we got another sinker around 300 ft AGL. [First officer added] another large amount of power as the airspeed jumped around -5/+15 KTS. At this point I should have stated 'go-around'. But the bouncing had stopped and we were [continuing the approach]. At [around] 75-50 ft AGL [first officer added] another large amount of power and we landed with a 0.0 G and 3.9 pitch.more than once I was assuming with the weather and winds that what we were encountering would be brief as with most wake turbulence. To be honest I don't think my mind was accepting what my eyes were telling me. Things got crappy; then ok; then crappy; then ok. The first officer and I debriefed to great detail in a very professional manner and we both realized we should have gone around yet neither one said it. The runway is right there; things are getting better; let's land. I have come from this with the understanding that I am going to be more aggressive with my decision making. Things get crappy; go-around! Be ready to go-around. Just because the weather is good and you've made this landing a hundred times. I will always brief go-around when it's crappy. This was a picture prefect day and you just never would have thought about it. I have always taken great pride in being standard; being aware; and following the flight operations manual always. I feel I dropped the ball I've learned from my mistakes.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD-11 flight crew reported wake vortex encounter landing at IND in trail of an Airbus. Crew reported they should have executed go-around; but landed instead.

Narrative: As the aircraft was leaving 1;000 FT AGL we were stable even thought we were in VMC conditions and on a visual for [Runway] 23L. We were left high by Indy Approach for a visual. [We were] 4;000 FT on base; as the First Officer aggressively descended to get on the glideslope. We were told by Approach that our spacing looked good with the Airbus ahead of us. 5 mile space is what we were told. [We] contacted Tower [and] checked in with Tower; cleared to land. Winds at the time were variable at 3 KTS. As we left 1;000 FT AGL on glideslope we had gotten some of the wake turbulence from the Airbus because we had gone below on the glideslope est. 1 dot but we started to bounce around more than normal [because of] some wake turbulence. After the First Officer corrected for that with power a fairly large amount of power we got another sinker around 300 FT AGL. [First Officer added] another large amount of power as the airspeed jumped around -5/+15 KTS. At this point I should have stated 'Go-around'. But the bouncing had stopped and we were [continuing the approach]. At [around] 75-50 FT AGL [First Officer added] another large amount of power and we landed with a 0.0 G and 3.9 pitch.More than once I was assuming with the weather and winds that what we were encountering would be brief as with most wake turbulence. To be honest I don't think my mind was accepting what my eyes were telling me. Things got crappy; then ok; then crappy; then ok. The First Officer and I debriefed to great detail in a very professional manner and we both realized we should have gone around yet neither one said it. The runway is right there; things are getting better; let's land. I have come from this with the understanding that I am going to be MORE aggressive with my decision making. Things get crappy; GO-AROUND! BE READY TO GO-AROUND. Just because the weather is good and you've made this landing a hundred times. I will always brief go-around when it's crappy. This was a picture prefect day and you just never would have thought about it. I have always taken great pride in being standard; being aware; and following the Flight Operations Manual always. I feel I dropped the ball I've learned from my mistakes.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1076937
Time
Date	201303
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	IND.Airport
State Reference	IN
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-11
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Airbus Industrie Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Landing
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Inflight Event / Encounter Unstabilized Approach Inflight Event / Encounter Wake Vortex Encounter

Md-11 flight crew reported wake vortex encounter landing at ind in trail of an airbus. Crew reported they should have executed go-around; but landed instead.