What happened
NTSB summary, verbatimUnited Airlines flight 1449, an Airbus A320, experienced a tailstrike on landing. Substantial damage occurred to the underbelly and aft bulkhead area. There were no injuries among the crew or passengers. According to the pilots, the approach was stabilized, on speed and on glide path, until the aircraft descended below 100 feet above the ground (AGL). Then, the airspeed began to slow below the approach speed of 141 knots, and the aircraft pitch attitude increased. At about 100 feet above the field elevation, the first officer pulled the thrust levers to idle. Shortly thereafter, the airspeed decreased to about 10 knots below approach speed. The first officer stated that he felt a “sense of ground rush” during the flare at about 70 feet and he increased back pressure on the side-stick to arrest the sink rate. The airplane touched down with a nose up pitch attitude of 12.3 degrees with the main landing gear compressed. The tail strike pitch limit at touchdown with the main landing gear compressed is 11.9 degrees nose up.
Photographs
1the aircraft, and what the investigators foundProbable cause
the Board's determinationThe failure of the flightcrew to arrest an excessive sink rate during the flare for landing.
Occurrence sequence
1 stepsNTSB coding · CICTT taxonomy- 1 · Landing-flare/touchdownTailstrikedefining event
Findings
1 causal · 0 contributing- CAUSEPersonnel issues › Action/decision › Action › Incorrect action performance — Flight crew
Sequence of events
4 timed eventsfrom the FDR factual report · claude-fable-5-1 (in-session)- about 3 minutes before touchdownapproachp.3Start of plots; after completing a left turn the aircraft straightened on the runway heading with flaps and slats deployed
- touchdownlandingp.3Both main gear touched down at the same moment, accompanied by two vertical acceleration spikes about two seconds apart (tail strike)
- about 15 seconds after main gear touchdownlandingp.3Nose gear touched down
- landinglandingp.3The copilot's sidestick was being operated at the time of the incident; the pilot's was not
NTSB analysis
from the final reportUnited Airlines flight 1449, an Airbus A320, experienced a tailstrike on landing. Substantial damage occurred to the underbelly and aft bulkhead area. There were no injuries among the crew or passengers. According to the pilots, the approach was stabilized, on speed and on glide path, until the aircraft descended below 100 feet above the ground (AGL). Then, the airspeed began to slow below the approach speed of 141 knots, and the aircraft pitch attitude increased. At about 100 feet above the field elevation, the first officer pulled the thrust levers to idle. Shortly thereafter, the airspeed decreased to about 10 knots below approach speed. The first officer stated that he felt a “sense of ground rush” during the flare at about 70 feet and he increased back pressure on the side-stick to arrest the sink rate. The airplane touched down with a nose up pitch attitude of 12.3 degrees with the main landing gear compressed. The tail strike pitch limit at touchdown with the main landing gear compressed is 11.9 degrees nose up.