B737-800 HARD LNDG BDA WITH ACFT DAMAGE.

Narrative

I HAVE BEEN A LINE CHK AIRMAN FOR MY AIRLINE FOR 12 1/2 YRS. ON THIS FLT I WAS GIVING IOE TO A NEW HIRE WITH NO PREVIOUS JET EXPERIENCE. IT WAS OUR FIRST LEG TOGETHER; AND HIS FIRST LEG SINCE SIMULATION TRAINING. WE THOROUGHLY BRIEFED OUR VISUAL APCH TO RWY 12 AT BNA; WHICH IS SERVED BY A VOR APCH (NO ELECTRONIC GS). WE DISCUSSED APPROPRIATE PWR SETTING FOR OUR FLAPS 40 DEG APCH AND LNDG. WE DISCUSSED FLARE; USE OF PAPI LIGHTING SYS; TOUCHDOWN TECHNIQUE; ETC. APCH WAS WELL FLOWN FROM 1000 FT; AT WHICH POINT WE WERE FULLY CONFIGURED; AND ON SPD. WX AT TIME WAS WIND 090 DEGS AT 8 KTS; GOOD VISIBILITY (6 MI IN HAZE). WE ACQUIRED RWY 6 MI OUT. ALL INDICATIONS WERE PERFECTLY NORMAL UNTIL 150 FT AGL; AT WHICH POINT OUR AIRSPD DROPPED 3-4 KTS BELOW TARGET. I COMMANDED 'ADD PWR.' FO ADDED A SMALL AMOUNT OF PWR. I AGAIN COMMANDED 'ADD PWR;' AT WHICH POINT FO ADDED ONLY A SLIGHT AMOUNT OF PWR. AT THE SAME TIME HE RELAXED BACK PRESSURE ON THE YOKE; SLOWING THE ACFT NOSE TO DROP. AT THIS POINT I TOOK CTLS; ADDING A LOT OF PWR AND ATTEMPTING TO FLARE THE ACFT. OUR FULL AIRPLANE (LNDG WT 137500 LBS) HIT HARD ON THE MAIN GEAR AND BOUNCED. I EFFECTED A RECOVERY AND CONTINUED THE LNDG ROLLOUT. ON ARR AT GATE; WE INSPECTED THE ACFT AND DISCOVERED THAT THE TAILSKID WAS HEAVILY DAMAGED. AN ADDITIONAL AREA OF LOWER FUSELAGE FORWARD OF THE TAILSKID WAS ALSO DAMAGED. I BELIEVE THAT THE FO'S PREVIOUS FLYING EXPERIENCE IN LIGHT ACFT AND TURBOPROPS DID NOT SUFFICIENTLY PREPARE HIM FOR THE KIND OF SIT HE ENCOUNTERED; WHERE THE JET'S INERTIA AND 'BACK SIDE OF THE PWR CURVE' SIT REQUIRED AN ASSERTIVE PWR INCREASE AND FLARE EFFORT AS THE NOSE BEGAN TO DROP. ALSO; I BELIEVE THE GEOMETRY OF THE B737-800 IS SUFFICIENTLY DIFFERENT FROM PREVIOUS B737 MODELS (IT IS CONSIDERABLY LONGER AND MORE PRONE TO TAIL STRIKES) THAT TRAINING SHOULD INCLUDE MANDATORY LNDG AND TKOF EXPERIENCE IN THE -800 SIMULATOR. AS A LINE CHK AIRMAN; I WOULD ALSO MAKE A POINT IN THE FUTURE OF DISCUSSING SOME OF THE BASIC DIFFERENCES BTWN JETS AND TURBOPROPS REGARDING LNDG TECHNIQUE; FOR STUDENTS WHOSE BACKGND DOES NOT INCLUDE JET ACFT EXPERIENCE. WHILE I WAS MENTALLY PREPARED TO TAKE CTL (AS I ALWAYS AM DURING A NEW STUDENT'S IOE); THE UNEXPECTED RELAXATION OF BACK PRESSURE WORSENED THE SIT TOO QUICKLY FOR ME TO AVOID THE OUTCOME.