767 tail strike

[VH-XXX]

Some work colleagues were on a 767 out of Melbourne on Monday night.

It rotated sharply and those in the back heard a large bang and scrape. Nothing came of it until around 20 minutes later when the captain announced a "problem" and they had to land at the nearest airport which was allegedly Canberra. They sat there for 10-50 minutes of system checks for well over an hour and were told phones must be left off because of these "system checks." From there, a meal voucher was provided which meant 300 people were trying to buy noodles from the only shop open late at night in Canberra. Then they pile back onto the same aircraft and make it into Sydney with 5 minutes before curfew.

The Captain claimed that tailstrikes are a common occurence in the 767. Same with the hosties.

Is this valid?

and... does this sound like it was handled well overall?

[TowerDog]

Not common, very rare..

[blueloo]

Not common, but not rare either. There was another one about 6 weeks ago.

There is also a 767 flying around with a history of spurious Tailskid MSG, which may lead some to think they have had a tail strike. (The message purely indicates position disagreement with the landing gear lever, not a tail strike - although if you squash the skid in a tail strike it may subsequently disagree)

Of course if the loud bang/scraping backs it up then......


The idea is to remain depressurised and return to land in case the fuselage is compromised.

[Wallsofchina]

The Hostie strikes have been going on for years and don't seem to be related to any particular aircraft.

[nitpicker330]

Damn FO's :E