A B727 CAPT OVERROTATES HIS ACFT AND IMPACTS THE TAILSKID ON RWY 9L AT ORD.
Synopsis
A B727 CAPT OVERROTATES HIS ACFT AND IMPACTS THE TAILSKID ON RWY 9L AT ORD.
Narrative
FLT ORD-IAH. ASSIGNED RWY 9L FOR TKOF. WINDS WERE LIGHT AND WX WAS NOT A FACTOR. WE WERE NEAR OUR RWY WT LIMIT AND USED FULL TKOF PWR. TKOF ROLL WAS ROUGH DUE TO UNEVEN RWY SURFACE. AT 'V1 ROTATE' CALL WE HAD LESS THAN A COMFORTING AMOUNT OF RWY REMAINING. AS CAPT ROTATED ACFT; THE APCH LIGHTING STANDS WERE CLRLY VISIBLE IN THE WINDSCREEN. ROTATION WAS NORMAL BUT ACFT SEEMED HVY. AFTER GEAR RETRACTION; THE TAILSKID LIGHT DID NOT EXTINGUISH. I SUSPECTED A DEFECTIVE SENSING SWITCH AND AT NO TIM CONTEMPLATED THAT THE SKID MAY HAVE HAD CONTACT WITH THE RWY. FLAP RETRACTION WAS DELAYED TO MEET THE AGGRESSIVE ALT RESTR FOR THE ORD DEP. CLB RATE WAS SLOW BUT NORMAL FOR A HVY B727. AT THE BEGINNING OF OUR NEXT PAIRING; 4 DAYS LATER; THE CAPT ADVISED ME THAT THE TAILSKID MAY HAVE SUSTAINED DAMAGE ON LIFTOFF AT ORD. APPARENTLY HE HAD BEEN CONTACTED BY MAINT AFTER BLOCK-IN AT IAH. HIS DESCRIPTIONS INDICATED MORE OF A MECHANICAL FAILURE THAN COMPRESSOR STRUT. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 412312: ACFT WAS ASSIGNED RWY 9L BY ORD GND. RWY 9L IS SHORT AND ALSO VERY ROUGH -- LIKE 'RIDING A WASHBOARD'. I LATER REMARKED 'I'VE TAKEN OFF FROM ORD'S RWY 9L MANY TIMES.' WHEN 'V1 ROTATE' WAS CALLED; WE WERE APCHING THE 1000 FT MARKER AT THE END OF RWY 9L. I INITIATED A NORMAL ROTATION. THE POSSIBILITY EXISTED THAT I MIGHT HIT THE APCH LIGHTS. THAT'S WHEN I CONTINUED TO ROTATE THE ACFT. THE ACFT BECAME AIRBORNE AROUND THE 1000 FT MARKER. WITH GEAR RETRACTION; THE 'TAILSKID LIGHT' WENT OUT; THEN REILLUMINATED; INDICATING THE TAILSKID WAS NOT RETRACTED. UPON ARR IN IAH; I VISUALLY INSPECTED THE TAILSKID AND FOUND IT SWINGING ON ITS HINGES. MAINT SAID IT WAS DUE TO OVERROTATION. THE ACFT; AFTER LIFTOFF; HAD LITTLE CLB PERFORMANCE. I FEEL THAT THE ACFT WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HEAVIER THAN WHAT THE 'ACCULOAD' GAVE (WE HAD A 'FULL BOAT'). THIS WAS DAY #4 OF A 4 DAY TRIP. WE HAD PUT IN SOME LONG HRS. WE HAD MINIMUM CREW REST IN EWR WITH AN AB40 MORNING SCHEDULED PUSH FOR ORD. AN INOP APU AND NO EXTERNAL PWR CART DELAYED OUR FLT TO ORD. LONG DUTY DAYS AND MINIMUM CREW REST ARE THE NORM AT OUR AIRLINE.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.