Incident Description
The flight crew was performing a normal landing with manual throttles and automatic ground spoiler. After the main landing gear touched down, the nose of the aircraft pitched up 'violently', according to the crew. This resulted in the underside of the aircraft tail scraping the runway surface.
Flight Data Recorder Analysis
Digital flight data recorder (DFDR) data indicated that after main gear touchdown, the nose was lowered at an excessive rate. Subsequently, a large, aft yoke input was made to arrest the rate of nose sink. The nose gear contacted the runway while the aft yoke input was maintained. At that point, the ground spoilers extended to 60 degrees.
Manufacturer Input
The aircraft manufacturer stated that with this scenario—a large aft yoke input maintained as the nose gear contacts the runway with ground spoilers extended to 60 degrees—a pitch-up of the nose would occur.