Narrative:

On short final the aircraft was configured and on speed for a normal landing. The first officer was the pilot flying. Without indication or warning a loud noise began to occur from the left side of the aircraft accompanied by large changes in yaw. The left engine would not operate at commanded N1 and the symptoms worsened with increases in power. The first officer handed control of the aircraft over to me using SOP's and I assumed control of the airplane. We [advised ATC] and stated our intentions were to land as well as requested meeting by fire rescue personnel. We decided the problem was an engine surge or stall; deactivated the autothrottles and reduced the left thrust lever towards idle. I decided it was in the best interest of safety to continue the landing in the current configuration instead of attempting a go around with degraded engine performance. I flew higher than normal vref speed for additional handling capability and control and determined there was insufficient time to safely locate and use the QRH checklist. Landing was made within 1 or 2 minutes after the surge began. The landing was uneventful. After clearing the runway; the left engine had normal indications so I shut it down using normal procedures. After an inspection of the left side of the aircraft; fire personnel cleared us to taxi to parking. We detected the abnormality during the initial occurrence. After diagnosing the possible issue; there were no indications of any engine fire or complete failure; so we assumed with the information available that we were experiencing engine surges. At this time; the cause is unknown. After assuming control of the aircraft and the first officer [advising ATC] (as I requested); we identified the problem; deactivated the autothrottles and the left engine was brought to idle and idled normally. I attempted to add power to see if the engine would work properly again; however; the surges continued. There was no other abnormal indications after landing we shut down the left engine normally and proceeded to parking under normal single engine taxi procedures. Current training and sops for this occurrence were sufficient. I have no suggestions at this time.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B767-300ER flight crew reported they reduced thrust on the left engine to idle for landing when it began to surge and stall on short final.

Narrative: On short final the aircraft was configured and on speed for a normal landing. The FO was the pilot flying. Without indication or warning a loud noise began to occur from the left side of the aircraft accompanied by large changes in yaw. The left engine would not operate at commanded N1 and the symptoms worsened with increases in power. The FO handed control of the aircraft over to me using SOP's and I assumed control of the airplane. We [advised ATC] and stated our intentions were to land as well as requested meeting by fire rescue personnel. We decided the problem was an engine surge or stall; deactivated the autothrottles and reduced the left thrust lever towards idle. I decided it was in the best interest of safety to continue the landing in the current configuration instead of attempting a go around with degraded engine performance. I flew higher than normal Vref speed for additional handling capability and control and determined there was insufficient time to safely locate and use the QRH checklist. Landing was made within 1 or 2 minutes after the surge began. The landing was uneventful. After clearing the runway; the left engine had normal indications so I shut it down using normal procedures. After an inspection of the left side of the aircraft; fire personnel cleared us to taxi to parking. We detected the abnormality during the initial occurrence. After diagnosing the possible issue; there were no indications of any engine fire or complete failure; so we assumed with the information available that we were experiencing engine surges. At this time; the cause is unknown. After assuming control of the aircraft and the FO [advising ATC] (as I requested); we identified the problem; deactivated the autothrottles and the left engine was brought to idle and idled normally. I attempted to add power to see if the engine would work properly again; however; the surges continued. There was no other abnormal indications after landing we shut down the left engine normally and proceeded to parking under normal single engine taxi procedures. Current training and SOPs for this occurrence were sufficient. I have no suggestions at this time.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.