It's been more years than I care to count since I flew a AN-2 so my memory may be in error, but I never saw our pilot do that shallow & high speed of an approach ( it looks like they were trying to fly it like a jet or airliner instead of a REALLY big J-3 Cub ) . I was part of the crew flying a former Polish AF AN-2 doing shows on the east coast in the late 90's and have 30-50 hours non-logged stick time ( but I would NOT do takeoffs or the final part of landings -- I know my limitations as "Clint" would say ! ). We always came in rather steep compared to other aircraft and used a good bit of flaps to slow down so you could almost dive at the runway without gaining speed. I never read the translated flight manual since I was just "aiming" the plane instead of what I would call really flying it so I don't know if we flew it "by the book". Still, unless that was a REALLY short runway, there is no reason in my option to land that close to the end, as even fully loaded we could land and stop in about 1500' ( very light during shows, the REAL pilot could almost do a no roll landing and takeoff like a Piper Cub ). It's a shame, as that was a beautiful Colt. They are built like tanks, but still I don't know if I would trust the wing attach fittings etc after that hard jolt. No offense intended towards the pilot, but as a PZL guy said in a TV documentary "It's a very forgiving airplane, except of pilot stupidity" ( I've done my fair share of "duh" things too and am luckily still here ).
Cheers,
And the most important thing --- looks like no one was injured ( at least on the ground, and hopefully only the pilot's ego ).
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