Tail strike
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In aviation, a tailstrike or tail strike occurs when the tail or empennage of an aircraft strikes the ground or other stationary object. This can happen with a
fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using wings that generate lift caused by the aircraft's forward airspeed and the shape of the wings. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinc ...
with tricycle undercarriage, in both takeoff where the pilot rotates the nose up too rapidly, or in landing where the pilot raises the nose too sharply during final approach, often in attempting to land too near the runway threshold. It can also happen during helicopter operations close to the ground, when the tail inadvertently strikes an obstacle. A minor tailstrike incident may not be dangerous in itself, but the aircraft may still be weakened and must be thoroughly inspected and repaired if a more disastrous accident is to be avoided later in its operating life.


Protection measures

Fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using wings that generate lift caused by the aircraft's forward airspeed and the shape of the wings. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinc ...
with a conventional tail and tricycle undercarriage are vulnerable to tailstrike. Those which require a high
angle of attack In fluid dynamics, angle of attack (AOA, α, or \alpha) is the angle between a reference line on a body (often the chord line of an airfoil) and the vector representing the relative motion between the body and the fluid through which it is m ...
on takeoff or landing are especially so. They may be fitted with a protection device such as a small tailwheel ( Concorde and the Saab Draken), tailskid ( Diamond DA20), or reinforced tail bumper. The device may be fixed or retractable.


Incident management

Tailstrike incidents are rarely dangerous in themselves, but the aircraft must be thoroughly inspected and repairs may be difficult and expensive if the pressure hull is involved. Inadequate inspections and improper repairs to damaged airframes after a tailstrike have been known to cause catastrophic structural failure long after the tailstrike incident following multiple pressurization cycles.


Examples of notable tailstrikes

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Emirates Flight 407 Emirates Flight 407 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Emirates from Auckland to Dubai with a stopover in Melbourne, operated by an Airbus A340-500 aircraft. On 20 March 2009, the flight failed to take off properly at Mel ...
, tailstrike on takeoff when correcting for insufficient thrust. * KLM Flight 4805, tailstrike on takeoff while attempting to avoid collision in the Tenerife airport disaster. * Japan_Air_Lines_Flight_123#Tailstrike_incident, improper repairs to a previous tailstrike on landing, resulting in catastrophic failure seven years later. The 520 fatalities made this the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history.{{Cite web, last=Ranter, first=Harro, date=, title=ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 747SR-46 JA8119 Ueno, url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19850812-1, access-date=June 15, 2009, website=aviation-safety.net, publisher=Aviation Safety Network * China Airlines Flight 611, improper repairs to a previous tailstrike on landing, resulting in catastrophic failure twenty-two years later. * Middle East Airlines Flight 304, tailstrike on landing at Cairo International Airport. *
Air India Express Flight 611 Air India Express Flight 611 was an international flight from Tiruchirappalli, India, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. On 11 October 2018, the Boeing 737-800, registration VT-AYD, operating the flight suffered a severe tail strike and crashed int ...
, severe tailstrike on takeoff following the collapse of the captain's backrest resulting in collision with the localizer antenna and perimeter wall.


References


External links


Tailstrike during takeoff
Jetphotos.net Aviation risks *