An Ural Airlines Airbus A321-200, registration VQ-BCE performing flight U6-9785 from Ufa to Nizhnevartovsk (Russia) with 165 people on board, departed Ufa's runway 32L, the tail however contacted the runway surface. The crew continued takeoff and climbed to cruise FL350. About 40 minutes after departure, 270nm northeast of Ufa and about 60nm northeast of Ekaterinburg, the crew decided to divert to Ekaterinburg, turned the aircraft around and landed safely on Ekaterinburg's runway 26R about one hour after departure.
The airline reported the commander felt a strong impact of the tail with the runway on departure. The flight was aborted and the aircraft diverted to the nearest maintenance base.
The captain admits to feeling a strong impact of the tail with the runway on departure yet still presses on regardless climbing to FL350. Saving the company money obviously trumps flight safety