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Ask the Captain: Is scraping the tail while landing a big deal?
Question: I was riding as a passenger on a 737-900ER, according to the safety card, and when we landed, we did a small bounce and had to get airborne again. On our second landing attempt, we apparently struck the tail. How bad is this? The crew member said that this airplane is too long and is prone to experience this. Why is it designed this way? (www.usatoday.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Here's my 2 takes....tail strike usually occurs in the region if not near but can be right on the point where the pressure bulkhead is. JAL back in 1989 lost it's vertical stabilizer due to a poor repair on the pressure bulkhead following a tailstrike (747). The AA A300 that crashed shortly after 9/11 in New York had had previous damage done to it aft end from a tail strike earlier in it's career. While that accident was finally blamed on the FO and improper wake turbulence recovery procedures in the final NTSB report. Secondly, it is most commonly done due to too fast of a rotation during takeoff, or getting too slow on landing and trying to "finesse" the plane onto the ground. Both of these are "bad" because the it's poor pilot technique. Scrape paint, buckles metal, stress cracks aluminum..trip to Chief Pilots Office for a rug dance..... but even given all this, the 900ER has a tail skid protection device which usually just means replacing the skid without the ensuing damage to the body or internals of the aircraft. You still get to go see the Chief Pilot though :-)
Here's my take: I'd try to avoid it. :-)
to the folks who have to repair the damage its a big deal!
Seven figures easily but it will buff right out.
Ops check good. :-)
China Airlines Flight 611, a 747-200B, broke up over the Taiwan Strait mid-flight on May 25, 2002, en route to Hong Kong International Airport from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taiwan 20 minutes after take off. All 225 occupants on board died. Metal fatigue at the site of a previous repair was cited as a cause. The repair was necessitated by a tail strike on landing years earlier. Striking the tail is not routine, is not good airmanship and will damage the airplane every time. Anyone who tries to mitigate the seriousness of a tail strike on landing is an buffoon.
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I think there is a little bit of a difference between dragging your tail on a ramp and slamming it into the ground on take off or landing, especially in a larger, pressurized aircraft, although, I would be concerned about any tail strike during take off/landing in any aircraft, be it a B-52 or a little bug smasher.
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I am very glad to read that you welcome all manner of opinions. From some of your previous posts, I had the (possibly mistaken) impression that you biased against certain people expressing their view points.