What happened
On July 28, 2013, a SpiceJet Dash 8 Q-400, registration VT-SUH, was operating flight SG-3291 from Chennai to Tuticorin. During the landing phase on runway 28, the aircraft experienced a tail strike that caused significant damage to the aft lower portion of the fuselage, including skin deformation and damage to the tail strike frangible switch. There were no injuries to the 54 persons on board, which included two crew members and 50 passengers.
The investigation
An investigation by AAIB India established that the incident occurred during an unauthorized supervised landing. The investigation examined cockpit voice recorder (CVR) data, flight data, and aircraft maintenance records. It was determined that the pilot-in-command (PIC) had permitted the first officer to perform a supervised landing at Tuticorin, a Category C airport, for which the first officer was not authorized.
Investigators also noted that the crew failed to report the strike to Air Traffic Control (ATC) immediately after landing. While the crew performed a post-flight inspection and identified the damage, the notification to ATC was only made by an airline technician via telephone. Additionally, the pilot failed to deactivate the CVR circuit breaker following the incident, which is required by regulation to preserve recordings.
Findings
- The primary cause was the improper handling of flight and thrust controls by the first officer during an unauthorized landing procedure.
- An abrupt reduction in thrust below 50 feet above ground level led to a decay in airspeed from 114 knots to 102 knots.
- The aircraft touched down with a high pitch attitude of 6.94 degrees, causing the tail to scrape the runway.
- The pilot monitoring failed to provide necessary callouts regarding the excessive pitch attitude or the loss of airspeed.
- The pilot-in-command failed to intervene or take control of the aircraft to correct the decaying speed and pitch.
- There was a lack of adherence to Standard Operating Procedures (S0P) and a failure to monitor flight instruments effectively during the critical phase of landing.