Buzzbox,
I don't know where you learned to fly, but anytime an aircraft's tail skid makes contact with the ground, it's a tail strike, no if and or buts about it.
I have been reading this thread with great interest, and it seems to me that the individuals that are defending Cathay's failure rates as maintaining of high standards have a lot to learn about flying. Cathay didn't invent flying, there are many great airlines out there that do similar type of flying, even more so, yet they do not have the failure rate Cathay has. So what gives, the only possible answer is a weak training department. Any training department that cannot keep failure rates below 5% needs to be revamped. However, just like alcohol, one has to admit there is a problem before help can be sought. As it stands, Cathay doesn't seem to think there is a problem, so end of story.
Xtwapilot