THE FLT WAS UNEVENTFUL UNTIL 10 SECONDS BEFORE THE TOUCHDOWN. THE LNDG FLARE STARTED EARLY. TOUCHDOWN OCCURRED AT A SLIGHTLY HIGHER ATTITUDE THAN NORMAL. AS THE SPOILERS DEPLOYED THE ACFT PITCHED UP. THE FLT ATTENDANT NOTIFIED THE FLC OF A SCRAPING SOUND. A TAIL STRIKE HAD OCCURRED. THE CREW HAD BEEN UP ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT AND THIS TAIL STRIKE OCCURRED BEFORE DAWN.

1996-03 · NASA ASRS report 331329

Date: 1996-03 · Aircraft: B757 Undifferentiated or Other Model

Anomalies: other-unspecified

Synopsis

THE FLT WAS UNEVENTFUL UNTIL 10 SECONDS BEFORE THE TOUCHDOWN. THE LNDG FLARE STARTED EARLY. TOUCHDOWN OCCURRED AT A SLIGHTLY HIGHER ATTITUDE THAN NORMAL. AS THE SPOILERS DEPLOYED THE ACFT PITCHED UP. THE FLT ATTENDANT NOTIFIED THE FLC OF A SCRAPING SOUND. A TAIL STRIKE HAD OCCURRED. THE CREW HAD BEEN UP ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT AND THIS TAIL STRIKE OCCURRED BEFORE DAWN.

Narrative

B757 LEFT LAS AT XC59 LCL TIME ENRTE TO ORD. THE FLT WAS UNEVENTFUL UNTIL 10 SECONDS BEFORE TOUCHDOWN. THE LNDG FLARE STARTED A LITTLE EARLY. TOUCHDOWN OCCURRED AT A SLIGHTLY HIGHER ATTITUDE THAN NORMAL; AND AS THE SPOILERS DEPLOYED THE ACFT PITCHED UP A LITTLE MORE CAUSING THE TAILSTRIKE. MY FIRST INDICATION OF WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS A CALL FROM THE FLT ATTENDANT ABOUT A SCRAPING SOUND AFTER TOUCHDOWN. AFTER PARKING AT THE GATE; THE TAIL SECTION WAS VISUALLY INSPECTED AND A TAILSTRIKE WAS CONFIRMED. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: THE CREW HAS BEEN UP ALL DAY IN DEN; FOR XA35 DEP TO LAS; AND THEN A DEP FROM LAS AT XC59 TO ORD; WE HAVE BEEN UP ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT; AND I DO THINK THAT FATIGUE HAD AFFECTED THE JUDGEMENT OF VISUAL CUES AS FAR AS THE LNDG PORTION OF THE FLT. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 331443: I AM FAIRLY SURE THAT SOME OF THE PITCH UP WAS INITIATED WITH THE SPOILERS EXTENDING AFTER TOUCHDOWN. ON THE B757 THE EXTENSION OF THE SPOILERS ON TOUCHDOWN CAN ACTUALLY CAUSE THE NOSE TO PITCH UP INSTEAD OF DOWN. THIS ALONG WITH PULLING BACK TO HOLD THE NOSE OFF THE GND IS WHAT I THINK CAUSED THE TAIL TO CONTACT THE GND.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.

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