2011-09 · NASA ASRS report 970446
An A321 tail strike during landing at a high altitude airport. The landing was firm and the nose pitched up slightly after landing.
The visual approach was stable and on LOC and glideslope using the autopilot until about 800 FT when I disconnected it and hand flew the Airbus. At 500 FT; the First Officer made his call outs (stable; target; sink 900). The approach was normal and the First Officer never made an 'unstable' call out to me. At flare there was no arresting the descent rate as I raised the pitch. I left the thrust levers in climb detent disregarding the retard aural warning. The aircraft landed hard. I felt the nose pitch up right after touchdown and I arrested the pitch; anticipating the aircraft was going to bounce. It did not. The nose gear slowly touched the runway and I taxied off the runway. While taxing to the gate there were no indications in the cockpit of a tail strike. The aft Flight Attendant called the cockpit while taxing to the gate; informing me that right after we touched down there was a loud bang noise from the rear of the aircraft that startled some passengers. At the gate I proceeded to inspect the tail section and found the drain mast was scraped and a section of the aft belly was scraped with skin damage a length of about 15 FT. There were no injuries or major complaints from crew or passengers as we deplaned.[I] could not arrest descent rate during flare. I have experienced this similar situation before with the Airbus. The Vapp speed gets too close to the Vls speed; causing a lack of airspeed during the flare; resulting in a hard landing. The high density altitude was also a factor. I would like to see the company develop a procedure or correct the issue of why on the Airbus the Vapp speed; at times; gets too slow to adequately flare the aircraft on landing. Perhaps Ref plus five KTS is not adequate for the Airbus.
I was the First Officer and non-flying pilot for a visual approach. [We were] stabilized on ILS throughout the approach [with a] normal round out for landing in the touchdown zone. Landing [was] firm and the nose appeared to briefly pitch up. Rollout [was] normal after that. Cleared runway and while taxing to the gate; the aft Flight Attendant called and said she heard a loud noise after initial touchdown. After arriving at the gate; the Captain did an exterior inspection and discovered damage to the aft underside of the aircraft indicating a tail strike.My scan after touch down should have been on the attitude indicator. Perhaps I could have given a pitch warning in time to prevent the strike. Also; perhaps with a heavy aircraft load and a high altitude airport; flaps three configuration would have been more prudent.
The reporter stated he could not see any reason why this event occurred. The winds were light and nearly a direct crosswind; the temperature was about 60 degrees; and the weight and balance information was correctly entered in the FMGC. The pitch attitude increased slightly after touch down and is likely when the tail strike occurred.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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