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Today we will talk about tail strike events in aviation, incidents that happen more often than we imagine, but they always generate news. Airbus Foto Photos
If you follow airline industry news regularly, I'm sure you saw the news sometime: Patito Air airline model XXXXX plane suffered tail strike while landing in windy conditions at an airport in the world.
This news is accompanied by a photo as the main one in this publication and generates thousands of interactions, becoming viral..
The idea of this post is to learn more about this “tail strike” event., although its translation into Spanish sounds horrible, We are going to speak better in English terms since this is the main language of aviation, allows us to delve deeper into the matter.
What is a tail strike?
Let's first review the official definitions. For instance Boeing On their website they mention it as:
Tail strike, which occurs when an airplane tail contacts the runway during takeoff or landing, is an event that can be encountered by virtually all transport airplane designs.
On the other hand, the THERE IT IS defines it this way:
Tail impact accidents occur when the aircraft's attitude is such that the tail makes contact with the runway.,
during takeoff or landing or even during go-around maneuver (aborted landing), causing substantial damage.
With this context, we can define that in aviation, A tail strike is an event in which the rear of an aircraft strikes, bumps or scrapes the track. This can happen during takeoff, landing or even during taxiing (in the event of a weight and balance error).
Caused by a tail strike
With clear definitions that can be given in various stages of the aircraft's movement, We are now going to review the causes of a tail strike, which can be diverse., but the most common are the following:
- Excessive lift of the nose of the aircraft. This can occur if the pilot pulls the stick too hard during takeoff or landing..
- Wind gusts. Strong winds can cause the aircraft to tilt backwards and hit the tail on the runway.. Also descending winds like wind shear are capable of generating this situation.
- Too short a track. If the track is too short, the plane may not have enough time to reach enough speed to take off without hitting the tail, which could generate a greater "lift" of the nose generating a touch of tail.
- Pilot error. An inexperienced or distracted pilot can make a mistake that causes one more tail strike if the above conditions are added..
Risks of a tail strike
At least one hundred tail strikes are reported per year, which if generated can cause damage to the aircraft, including:
- Dents or cracks in the fuselage, having to leave the plane on the ground for inspection and repair.
- Damage to the rear landing gear in case of hard landing combined with tail strike.
- In extreme cases, a tail strike can even cause an accident.
How to avoid a "tail hit"
There are a number of measures that can be taken to avoid tail strike., including:
- Tail skid: a system that not all airplanes have and that generates an audible alert in the cockpit, alerting pilots that the tail is touching the ground.
- Proper pilot training. Pilots must be trained to recognize the conditions that can cause a tail strike and how to avoid it by recognizing the situations that can cause it..
- There are airplanes considered longer, who are more prone to these situations, so proper training in its operation is essential.
- Proper flight planning. Pilots must take weather conditions and runway length into account when planning a flight.
A tail strike is a serious event that can cause damage to the aircraft and, in extreme cases, even an accident. Thus, Part of constant training and training of pilots treat these events to minimize the risk of occurrences.
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