B757 flight crew conducting a test flight reported a tail strike during takeoff rotation.
Synopsis
B757 flight crew conducting a test flight reported a tail strike during takeoff rotation.
Narrative
Last minute reserve assignment added to my schedule after a transcontinental flight from ZZZ1-ZZZ. Good rest night prior and not feeling fatigued so I accepted the short ferry flight assignment from ZZZ-ZZZ in order to conduct a maintenance test flight for ship XXX to be returned to service. Met the Captain in the annex flight planning room and got bussed out to the Maintenance Control where the plane was parked. I conducted the walk around while he initialized the FMC. He asked to be the pilot flying and I said I didn't mind; and that I had just brought a plane in from ZZZ1 as the pilot flying. The subsequent events leading to getting to the runway; to include engine starts; takeoff performance and final weights delivery; reroute verification and coordination; and taxi out all were standard to include our initial brief prior to pushback"; from Maintenance Control. One of the threats we identified initially is that the plane was very light and our V1; Vr; and V2 speeds were all very low. Tail strike was not specifically mentioned due to them being very uncommon on departure in the 757-200; however "lighter nose; and feeling like a rocket ship" were noted and agreed upon by myself and the Captain as threats due to the flight envelopes being significantly different than what we were used to with heavier aircraft.We taxied down 1 taxiway and stopped abeam 2 on 1 behind a heavy company 777 who was stopped short of Runway XXR. They were having difficulty obtaining takeoff data so the Captain suggested I ask Tower if departing Runway XXR at 2 intersection would help since our edict time was approaching. Tower agreed and said that would help a lot; then cleared us to line up and wait Runway XXR at 2; "traffic on a 4 mile final be ready to go". As we made the turn onto the runway Tower clears us for takeoff stating winds were calm. I looked at Captain and asked if he was ready to go; he said yep let's go; so I repeated the departure clearance to Tower as the Captain pushed the throttles up to approximately 1.13 EPR before calling for auto throttles. I gave him auto throttles and very shortly thereafter called 100 kts. pause roughly 1 second; V1; rotate at roughly 115 and 120 kts. respectively. The initial pull by the Captain felt normal for a light airplane. Maybe a little aggressive for a loaded aircraft but not at all out of the ordinary and in the neighborhood of 2.5 degrees to 3 degrees per second rate of rotation. We felt the main landing gear come off the ground slightly and just prior to getting the words "positive rate" out of our mouths the Captain increased his pitch back rate to get the plane into the flight directors and up to the pitch command bars roughly 10 degrees above the current pipper symbol attitude. This is where we both felt a moderate thud prior to climbing away from the ground at roughly 4-6 thousand feet per minute with a 3000 foot initial level off altitude restriction. After looking at the attitude indicator; EICAS; then at each other the Captain said what the hell was that? I asked him; how the pedals and lateral feel of the plane felt and he said fine; I asked how the pitch rate feedback felt and he said nope everything feels fine. He said maybe the gear struts were stuck and unloaded hard. I said I'm not sure everything feels normal; looks and sounds normal; and we are returning to ZZZ anyway so if he's comfortable we can worry about it on the ground and he agreed and said "yep let's fly the plane and worry about it on the ground". We continued discussing possibilities once above FL180 and that was when he said I hope it wasn't a tail strike and I told him I hate to say it but that's the only thing that makes sense even though we didn't get any abnormal EICAS messages or pressurization issues. We agreed we would call Maintenance and do a post flight walk around upon returning to ZZZ. We flew up to FL360 as ATC instructed prior to turning back around approximately 135 miles west of the airportand back inbound for the ILS XXR. Upon landing we taxied into spot XXX; parked; shut the plane down; and received the pitch report readout from the plane indicating a rotation snapshot on takeoff at approximately 15.3 degrees and contact with the tail occurs at approximately 12.2 degree on the 757-200. After seeing the readout the Captain said well the numbers don't lie so let's conduct the post flight walk around with Maintenance. I walked slower than the Captain and the Maintenance personnel looking at the plane and they both initially didn't see the damage done to the APU access doors as it looked like oil residue sparkling under the light of a flashlight and I believe they were looking for the crush plate primarily. There was a corner of the crush plates white paint missing indicating a tail strike but the plate was not damaged otherwise then I brought the swath of missing paint further toward the tail to their attention and all parties agreed there was no question of a tail strike and we needed to pursue the further steps associated with it. The Captain asked Maintenance what needed to happen and they said they would look in the maintenance manual and he needed to write it up but they were going to try and turn the plane later that evening. I asked the Captain what he needed from me through all of this and that not to worry about it as I could tell this was beginning to really bother him and to call me if he finds out more about what is needed from us or if he needed anything from me.I left not knowing what else needed to be done if anything at the time and met with my girlfriend at a different terminal prior to us leaving the airport roughly an hour and a half after the end of the flight. Later at midnight the same night I received a phone call instructing me to return to the airport for a drug tests and the assistant chief pilot walked me through the rest of this process. I asked for further guidance on what to do should anything like this happen again in the future and he said definitely file and report and contact the Chief Pilot at a minimum."
Second reporter narrative
During takeoff ZZZ XXR; flaps 5 reduced power at ZFW134.5 and TOW146.3; we rotated at approximately 127 kts. Realizing with no cargo/passengers; the jet would not feel normal; I anticipated a light nose at rotation and steep climb out. During our departure brief; I mentioned and discussed light weight characteristics we may experience during takeoff and climb out as a threat. At 100 kts.; I felt the flight controls become more active than usual. Just prior to the V1 call; the aircraft seemed to become light and almost start flying. At V1; I could feel the aircraft very light and ready to fly more so than expected. At the rotation call; I started a normal rotation but felt the aircraft liftoff slightly different and prematurely. At a normal cadence; I scanned my instruments to confirm a positive rate of climb. I recall seeing what I thought was approximately 40 ft. RA. While glancing over at the gear handle; I stated gear up" while hearing and feeling a slight bump. Before I scanned back to a normal check of the flight director for climb attitude; I noticed the nose and airspeed were increasing more than normal. I continued my climb after liftoff calling for the gear; executing an NADP1 (Noise Abatement Departure Procedure 1) departure. The aircraft felt and sounded normal. We continued climb accomplishing the after takeoff checklist leveling at FL360. The FO (First Officer) and I suspected/discussed a possible tail strike and also checked the FMC/ACARS for any indications. I referenced the FM (flight manual) for a possible tail strike; doubled checked the pressurization and observed no issues. Returned back to ZZZ XXR Flaps30 landing. Immediately upon parking at the gate; we performed a post flight inspection to find damage to the aft end of the tail beneath the APU doors. Maintenance logbook entry of tail strike was documented."
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.