TunisAir tailstrike video

[kontrolor]

Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIuFzi83Lr4)

any idea what happened? this dosen't seem to be normal landing (maybe windshear?)

[sleeper]

By the looks of it (by no means conclusive) a late flare, touch and bounce during the flare and then the pitch up rate is checked too late. The pitch up rate is possibly caused by the (late) rapid flare as the ground is rushing up.

[Mrs-rodge-bless-her]

Hmmmmmmm

Tailstrike alright. Happens a lot with new crews that switch from 320 - 321 as 321 is longer.

But never seen it happening like that... on the Tunisair 320.

Nice vid.

[Hand Solo]

Didn't look all that late! Looks to me like he bounced it then tried to hold it off for a smooth landing. What he should have done was hold the pitch attitude and accept it thumping down on the main gear. Done the thumper several times myself.:(

[Dream Land]

I looked at the video several times, I don't believe this is a tail strike, close but no cigar, the pitch up was caused by a "hold it off, landing technique that leaves you in a nose high attitude and low airspeed, as soon as the mains touch, ground spoilers deploy and because of the CG, pitch the nose up further, all covered in the FCOM.

[Dani]

Agree, Dream Land. If there would be a (hard) tailstrike you would see smoke and/or sparks, which I couldn't see even after several attemps.

[HotDog]

Very close but the tail did not strike the ground. Very lucky!

[Yacov]

I theenk there eess a leetle streak of brown on the tail though eef you look closely:)

[HotDog]

Well, if it's a night stop, they'll have time to wash it off.:E

[underread east]

Think I'd have a little brown streak on my tail if I'd done one like that too!!

[5150]

Probably some kind of software error. . .

[tightcircuit]

The spoilers don't come up on the first touchdown. After the bounce he holds the attitude at first, as you should, but then the spoilers deploy fairly slowly and it is then that the pitch increases. I am a boeing man so I don't know what effect (if any) spoiler deployment has on pitch on an A320. Come to think of it since it is probably full ground spoiler deployment rather than just flight spoiler not many airbus chaps will have experienced it either.

[naceur]

i fly a 320 321 as captain
some pilots sometimes keep the nose up as long as possible after touchdown hoping a better aerodynamical deceleration :ugh:
jet fighters use this technic
i dont know if this was a tail stike or not

[Bus Junkie]

The nose goes up with ground spoiler deployment. He felt the sink with the spoilers deploying in the air, the nose went up, he pulled back more to try to save the landing. There was a thread a while back about pitch attitudes for tailstrikes in the 320, I don't remember the number for struts extended - about 12 degrees? anyone? A average 320 touch down is about 6 to 8 if flared.

Edited for:
The FCOM does not recommend the nose being held off for aerodynamic braking. I don't think any transport aircraft would recommend it. If you get in this habit it will bite you when you experience a strong crosswind.

[barit1]

Boeing (and McD-D before that) strongly discourages aero braking. It's an old military tactic that resulted in too many overruns. :uhoh:

[calypso]

Keeping the nose in the air during the ground run increases the lift from the wing and although this gives a higher aerodinamic drag it also reduces the weight on the wheels. As a result the antiskid will prevent the full brake pressure being applied and the landing distance will be longer. Not a recomended technique.

It looks cool though.

[topgun b737]

it was not a tail strike, very lucky just passing near. i meet the pilot of this a/c. and he told me that he pulled back more to try to save the landing after bouncing due to excessive speed and a late flare.

[mrcabbage]

You can clearly see it's the strobe light flashing NOT a tail strike!

[ACMS]

So basically he admitted to stuffing it up ....

luck lucky.

[RatherBeFlying]

On the first touchdown, I see smoke from both mains one after the other, then a bounce.

Then the ground spoilers deploy with the a/c in the air:uhoh:

My guess without specific AB knowledge is that wheelspin and/or WOW was detected on both wheels which initiated ground spoilers which continued to full deployment in the air even though WOW came off.

[yetanotherdawn]

Back in the late 70s, doing the A300B4 course, the supposed aerodynamic braking technique was definitely being taught by Airbus then. Most of us thought it was a bit odd and more or less ditched the practice once we got on line. As far as I can recall it was not being taught on the A310/300-600 a few years later.

[CONF iture]

Could it be a Concorde legacy ? ... just a question.

[krujje]

My guess without specific AB knowledge is that wheelspin and/or WOW was detected on both wheels which initiated ground spoilers which continued to full deployment in the air even though WOW came off.

Don't know about this aircraft in particular, but in other types WOW signals are latched for several seconds so the conditions necessary for spoiler deploy can be valid even after the aircraft has left the ground; it's done to prevent spoilers popping in and out during bounce.

[OutOfRunWay]

I think the dingus which determines Air/Ground Transition stays in ground mode for several seconds (4?) after the main gear struts compress..
Wasnt there a case of an A320 bouncing because the pilot touched down with some thrust added, and after the pilot retarded the levers, the ground spoilers deployed in the air and the second landing was so hard it damaged the aircraft? I beleive it was an Air India A320?

[krujje]

Wasnt there a case of an A320 bouncing because the pilot touched down with some thrust added, and after the pilot retarded the levers, the ground spoilers deployed in the air and the second landing was so hard it damaged the aircraft? I beleive it was an Air India A320?

Is there a report available on that? I'd be interested to read it.