Incident Details
The airplane landed hard during touchdown, causing damage to structural members in the lower aft fuselage. The hard landing and tail strike dislodged several passenger cabin oxygen masks from their ceiling storage compartments. Deformation to the aft empennage occurred that was not immediately apparent.
Sequence of Events
The captain authorized the first officer to fly the route between Honolulu and Lihue. During the flight, no mechanical abnormalities were experienced. Approaching Lihue, daytime visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and the first officer continued as the flying pilot. He established the airplane on a 3-degree descent profile toward the runway, with stabilized engine thrust and rate of descent. The digital flight data recorder (DFDR) indicated that about 1 second before touchdown, the airplane's rate of descent was approximately 384 feet per minute, higher than normal, and the pitch attitude was 8 degrees nose up. During the impact sequence, the DFDR recorded a maximum vertical acceleration of 2.33 g's.
Post-Flight and Maintenance Findings
The flight crew reported not observing damage to the airframe during a post-flight walk around. The airplane then departed with passengers and made several additional flights. During a follow-up maintenance examination, the airplane's tail bumper compression indicator was found in the normal (horizontal) position, having been compressed about 2 7/8 inches. By design, tail strikes resulting in 3 or more inches of compression reposition the indicator from horizontal to vertical as a visual aid to alert personnel of severity.
Crew Background
The first officer had completed initial operating experience (IOE) training and had been released to fly the line 5 days prior to the accident. However, according to the Hawaiian Airlines Flight Operations Manual and associated Federal Aviation Regulations, because he only had about 61 of the requisite 100 hours of DC-9 flying experience, he was not authorized to land at Lihue Airport. Additionally, he was obligated to inform the captain of his limitation.