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Tail Strike During Go-Around
Airbus A321-211. Minor damage. No injuries.
The A321 was en route the evening of Dec. 23, 2011, from Austria with 182 passengers and six crewmembers to Manchester, England, which was reporting surface winds from 320 degrees at 16 to 27 kt, scattered clouds and light rain showers. The aircraft encountered turbulence as it descended through 1,500 ft above ground level (AGL) during the instrument landing system (ILS) approach to Manchester’s Runway 23R.
“The copilot [the pilot flying] disengaged the autothrust system as briefed, and, with turbulence increasing as the aircraft descended, the commander increased the approach speed target by 5 kt,” said the report by the U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). “Slightly below 1,000 ft, the copilot disengaged the autopilot.”
Aircraft control became increasingly difficult as the A321 descended below 400 ft, and the copilot had to make nearly continuous roll inputs, occasionally with full sidestick deflection. “By about 100 ft, the situation had become worse, and shortly afterwards, he initiated a go-around,” the report said, noting that recorded flight data showed a wind shear from a 4-kt tailwind component to an 8-kt headwind component.
The crew set TOGA (takeoff/go-around) thrust, and the copilot rotated the aircraft to a 10-degree nose-up pitch attitude. “Almost simultaneously, the crew sensed a severe downdraft which caused the aircraft to sink and the main gear to make contact with the runway,” the report said. Flight data showed that the 8-kt headwind component had sheared to an 8-kt tailwind component as the go-around was initiated.
The crew completed the go-around and then added 10 kt to the target airspeed for the second approach. The aircraft again encountered wind shear, which caused a 10- to 15-kt airspeed loss close to the runway, but the copilot landed the Airbus without further incident.
“During the commander’s external inspection after arriving on stand, he discovered damage to the lower rear fuselage skin and suspected that the aircraft had suffered a tail strike during the go-around manoeuvre,” the report said. “An engineering inspection confirmed that the aircraft would be unable to operate the return sector pending further maintenance action.”