What happened
On 11 May 2016, a Boeing 737-900ER, registration 9M-LNK, operated by Malindo Airways, was performing a scheduled flight from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Kota Kinabalu International Airport. During the approach for Runway 02, the co-pilot was managing the flight. While the aircraft was initially utilizing the autopilot for the ILS approach, the co-pilot disconnected the system at 1,200ft to transition to manual flight.
During the landing sequence, the aircraft performed a normal flare, but the touchdown was notably firm and resulted in a slight bounce. Following this impact, the aircraft's pitch angle increased to 7.91 degrees, causing the tail section to make contact with the runway surface. While the incident resulted in damage to the aircraft and left it in an aircraft on ground (AOG) status, there were 0 fatalities and no injuries were reported.
The investigation
AAIB Malaysia investigators determined that the aircraft had departed Kuala Lumpur while exceeding its maximum allowable weight. The investigation identified a breakdown in the weight and balance verification process, specifically noting that errors made by the load sheet officer were not identified or corrected by the flight crew during pre-flight checks.
Findings
- The primary cause of the tail strike was that the flight departed Kuala Lumpur in an overweight condition.
- Human factor errors occurred during the preparation of the load sheet.
- The flight crew failed to detect the inaccuracies in the weight and balance documentation.
Safety action
To prevent recurrence, several recommendations were issued regarding ground and flight operations:
- Ground operations should review training requirements for load sheet officers and implement a six-month quality assurance audit for certified personnel.
- Load sheet officers must proactively notify pilots of any weight changes.
- Flight operations should enhance training regarding proper pitch attitude and N1 power settings for all flight phases.
- There is a recommendation to transition to electronic load sheets to mitigate human error.
- Flight crews should review procedures for verifying the Operational Flight Plan (OFP), Load Sheet, and FMC data to catch gross errors.
- Crew Resource Management (CRM) practices and policies should be strengthened.