Contact of an aircraft tail with the ground or another object causing substantial damage
Tail wheel on an Aermacchi MB-326 to minimise damage caused by tailstrike
In aviation, a tailstrike or tail strike occurs when the tail or empennage of an aircraft strikes the ground or other stationary object. This can happen with a fixed-wing aircraft with tricycle undercarriage, in both takeoff where the pilot rotates the nose up too rapidly, or in landing where the pilot raises the nose too sharply during final approach, often in attempting to land too near the runway threshold.[1][2] It can also happen during helicopter operations close to the ground, when the tail inadvertently strikes an obstacle.[3]
The tail bumper of Concorde G-BOAF at Filton, Bristol
A minor tailstrike incident may not be dangerous in itself, but the aircraft may still be weakened and must be thoroughly inspected and repaired if a more disastrous accident is to be avoided later in its operating life.
^"Preventing tailstrike at takeoff, Airbus Safety Lib" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 August 2011.
^"Tail Strike Avoidance". www.boeing.com.
^"Helicopter Safety". Flight Pg 32. 15 April 1998. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
In aviation, a tailstrike or tail strike occurs when the tail or empennage of an aircraft strikes the ground or other stationary object. This can happen...
fatigue cracking caused by inadequate maintenance after a much earlier tailstrike incident. On 7 February 1980, the aircraft was flying from Stockholm Arlanda...
failure was caused by a faulty repair by Boeing technicians following a tailstrike incident seven years earlier. When the faulty repair eventually failed...
returned to the airport at 23:36 without further incident. Despite having tailstrike protection built into the A340-500, the rear pressure bulkhead and the...
aboard were killed. On 11 August 2010, Douglas DC-8-63F YA-VIC suffered a tailstrike on take-off from Manston Airport, United Kingdom, destroying an approach...
while operating Middle East Airlines Flight 304, the aircraft suffered a tailstrike while landing in Cairo, Egypt. Neither the crew nor the passengers were...
the capacity to 188 passengers, and requiring a tail bumper to prevent tailstrikes during take-off and a strengthened wing spar. The -400s first flight...
informed of the tailstrike, the crew continued the flight to the Cape Verde Islands. Inspection on arrival revealed that a tailstrike had indeed occurred...
repairs to the aircraft 22 years earlier when the aircraft encountered a tailstrike. 224: On October 31, 2015, an Airbus A321-231, Metrojet Flight 9268, crashed...
accident was caused by a faulty repair to the bulkhead after a much-earlier tailstrike incident. Note: This crash is covered again in the Season 23 episode 'Pressure...
Kyrgyzstan crashed into a warehouse near the runway of the airport due to a tailstrike that caught fire during takeoff and broke into several pieces with seven...
responded with a further pitch up to approximately 11°; at this time, a tailstrike occurred. The aircraft was approximately at the 8,000-foot (2,400 m) mark...
August 2000. Retrieved 2 February 2009. "23 August 2000 - Gulf Air 072". tailstrike. Retrieved 5 July 2016. "Pilot's family fight to clear his name". Gulf...
A321neo prototype, D-AVXB, first flew on 9 February 2016. It suffered a tailstrike three days later and was flown to Toulouse for repairs, delaying the certification...
N311US, operated by Northwest Airlines as flight NW557, experienced a tailstrike resulting in substantial damage upon landing on runway 16L at Denver International...
757-300 features a retractable tailskid on its aft fuselage to avoid tailstrikes. Condor ordered the stretched 757 to replace its McDonnell Douglas DC-10s...
(registered N717FR) operating as Frontier Airlines Flight 1187 suffered a tailstrike during landing. The aircraft was repaired and no one was injured. Companies...
Airbus A320-214, rotated then aborted takeoff and as a result suffered a tailstrike and a nose landing gear collapse. The aircraft then continued down runway...
involved in a tailstrike at Anchorage International Airport. Permanent repairs were made from the Anchorage incident within days of the tailstrike, and permanent...
Airlines Flight 611 crashes stemmed from improper aircraft repair due to a tailstrike. The fatal crash of Korean Air Flight 801, a 747-300 was caused due to...
from Auckland International Airport to Changi Airport was involved in a tailstrike while taking off from Auckland's Runway 23L, causing severe damage to...
heavy landing. 2 June 1978: Japan Airlines Flight 115 suffered a severe tailstrike upon landing on Runway 32L of Osaka Airport, causing 25 injuries in the...
1999, pp. 119, 121 Sopranos, Katherine (December 2004). "Striking out tailstrikes". Frontiers. Retrieved August 21, 2012. "Type-Certificate Data Sheet"...
escaped". The Independent. August 10, 1994. Retrieved September 7, 2022. "10 August 1994 - Korean Air 2033". tailstrike.com. Retrieved September 3, 2022....
angle needed at rotation, a small set of wheels was added aft to prevent tailstrikes. The main undercarriage units swing towards each other to be stowed but...
initiated a go-around after touching down on runway 24L, suffering a tailstrike in the process. After circling round for a second attempt, the aircraft...
twice with its tail with 300–400 metres (980–1,310 ft) between the two tailstrikes. At the end of the runway, the aircraft made a sharp turn to the right...
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