What happened
A scheduled flight operating from Luxembourg to Hamburg via Saarbrucken was involved in an accident during the takeoff phase at Saarbrucken airport. The aircraft, a Bombardier DHC-8-402, was carrying a total of 30 passengers and a crew of four. Prior to the incident, the flight crew had completed previous legs of the day's itinerary without difficulty and were operating ahead of their planned schedule.
At approximately 10:09 hrs, the crew received clearance to start the engines. During taxiing on taxiway C, takeoff clearance was granted at 10:15:03 hrs. The crew intended to perform the takeoff using a reduced engine thrust setting of 81%. As the aircraft accelerated down runway 09, the crew performed standard callouts, including speed checks and configuration verifications.
During the rotation phase, at a speed of roughly 127 KIAS and a nose-up pitch of 5 degrees, the landing gear retracted. Immediately following this, the aircraft's tail made contact with the runway. The tail strike warning light activated, and the aircraft subsequently bounced three times before coming to a halt approximately 875 meters from the initial contact point. The aircraft slid on its fuselage during the event. Due to the presence of smoke and fumes within the cabin, the crew initiated an immediate evacuation. There were 0 fatalities and 0 injuries among the passengers and crew, all of whom exited the heavily damaged aircraft independently.
Findings
The investigation noted that the landing gear retracted prematurely during the rotation phase, which led to the tail strike.