Originally Posted by
megan
The sudden loss of ground cushion at the tailplane with the reduction of IAS be an influence towards tailstrike?
An instantaneous loss of headwind component or increase in tailwind component will result in the IAS below calculated Vr. If your performance limited, it is very likely that the Vr would not have been optimised. The lift required in lifting the aircraft off in a "normal" rotation technique would not have been sufficient and the aircraft remains on the ground due to the lack of lift. If the pilot keeps pulling back towards climb pitch attitude that's probably how a tailstrike can occur. We are talking about an aircraft being at its performance limits for that particular day. On most other days when V speeds are optimised (Airbus speak), the calculated Vr would typically have margins.
Just to be clear, taking off in a tailwind does not increase the risk of a tailstrike.