Flight Operations Briefing Notes
 Landing Techniques
Preventing Tailstrike at Landing
I Introduction A tailstrike occurs when the tail of an aircraft touches the runway during takeoff or landing. It can occur with any type of aircraft, although tailstrikes occur more often with long aircraft, because tailstrike occurrence is directly related to pitch attitude versus aircraft geometry, and the status of main landing gear extension.
Tailstrikes can result in significant structural damage to the aircraft and, therefore, may jeopardize the safety of the flight and lead to considerable maintenance action. 
Note:
The purpose of this Flight Operations Briefing Note is to address tailstrike occurrence at landing.

II Background Information 

II.1 Statistical Data About 25% of reported tailstrikes occur at takeoff, and 65% at landing (Source: Airbus-2004).
Note:
Tailstrike at takeoff is addressed in the Flight Operations Briefing Note “Preventing Tailstrike at Takeoff”.
Tailstrike at landing often occurs on the second touchdown, following a bounce. It is often associated with a hard landing.
Although most of landing tailstrikes are due to deviations from normal landing techniques, some are associated with external conditions, such as turbulence and wind gradient. 

II.2 Operational Consequences Tailstrikes at landing generally cause more damage than tailstrikes at takeoff because the tail may strike the runway before the main gear, and cause damage to the aft pressure bulkhead.
 

 
Figure 1
Damage Following a Tailstrike at Landing
Flight crewmembers may not always be aware that a tailstrike has occurred during landing, because the impact may not be felt. In these cases, a walk-around inspection performed by the flight crew before the next flight will ensure that the marks on the aircraft from the tailstrike are detected, and repaired, if required.
　
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