Incident
On September 15, 2014, at approximately 2027 eastern daylight time, American Airlines flight 2404, a Boeing 757-200 registered as N654A, experienced a tail strike during landing at Miami International Airport (KMIA), Miami, Florida. The aircraft was operating as a regularly scheduled passenger flight under 14 CFR Part 121 from Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (KSJU), San Juan, Puerto Rico, to KMIA.
Aircraft and Crew
The aircraft involved was a Boeing 757-200 with registration N654A. The flight crew consisted of a captain and a first officer (FO). The first officer was the pilot flying, while the captain served as the pilot monitoring and was providing initial operating experience (IOE) training for the FO.
Sequence of Events
According to the operator, the flight crew reported that the Instrument Landing System (ILS) was tuned and the approach was stabilized. The main gear touchdown was smooth, but the nose of the aircraft rose rapidly before the captain could make the "deployed" call for the spoilers. The captain quickly grabbed the yoke and lowered the nose to the ground.
Damage
A postflight maintenance inspection revealed damage to the aft fuselage skin and substantial damage to the aft pressure bulkhead. There were no injuries to the 172 passengers and crew onboard.