Incident Overview
During the flare of a landing, the captain sensed the aircraft ballooning and increased the pitch angle to 11.8 degrees to arrest the descent. Flight attendants seated in the aft cabin crew positions heard a scraping sound just before the main landing gear touched down. The tail struck the runway surface during the flare, causing the aft pressure dome to be scraped, bent, and buckled.
Pilot Experience
The captain had recently been type-rated in the Boeing 767 and had accrued a total of 46 hours in the aircraft, of which 4.5 hours were on the accident flight.
Manufacturer Specifications
According to the manufacturer, the maximum pitch angle with the oleos compressed is 11.0 degrees.
Wake Turbulence Consideration
The captain attributed the ballooning to wake turbulence from a preceding DC-8 arrival. However, the flight data recorder (FDR) readout did not indicate the presence of wake turbulence.