Tailstrikes, What Are They?

[lenbrazil]

Please put you explination into layman's terms.

Thanks

Len

 

[delldude]

Please put you explination into layman's terms.

Thanks

Len

[post="299256"][/post]​

i'd have to believe what you refer to are lightning strikes on or about the tail.
or it could be a unionized event in a brothel??

 

[lenbrazil]

i'd have to believe what you refer to are lightning strikes on or about the tail.
or it could be a unionized event in a brothel??

[post="299559"][/post]​

LOL but none of the above!

It is some sort of manuver or flying screw up. See quote below.

"The pilot tailstruck the aircraft while attempting a go-around. The drag caused the aircraft to stall, impact the runway, and explode. Pilot error."

 

[BoeingBoy]

It can occur it the aircraft is over-rotated on takeoff before actually lifting off the runway or over flared on landing (usually with too slow a speed). The tail strikes the runway before/simultaneous with the mains lift off on t/o or before/simultaneous with the mains touching down on landing, hence "tailstrike".

Aircraft that have minimum tail clearance when rotated for t/o or flared for landing usually have some sort of "tail skid" to protect the lower aft fuselage in the event of a tailstrike. The most visible example that comes to mind for a common aircraft is the Boeing 727 - the tailskik actually extends when the gear is down and it is easily visible. The Concorde had a similiar arrangement, which even appeared to incorporate a small wheel - would that be called a "tail wheel" instead of a tailskid? .

You can go to airliners.net and search for "tailstrike" and/or "tailskid" to see some pictures.

Jim

 

[lenbrazil]

Thanks Jim!

What do you think about the Wellstone crash?

Len

 

[lenbrazil]

Jim,

I'm confused the quote seems to indicate the plane was to far off the ground for that.

"The pilot tailstruck the aircraft while attempting a go-around." I though a 'go-around' was a mid-air turn. Is it possible the pilot was turning while taking off or landing?

"... The drag caused the aircraft to stall, impact the runway, and explode. Pilot error." Is it possible that falling from so lo a hight could cause the plane to explode?

The plane was an Antonov AN-26, the crash occured in Gyumri, Armenia 35 of 36 prople on board were killed

It can occur it the aircraft is over-rotated on takeoff before actually lifting off the runway or over flared on landing (usually with too slow a speed). The tail strikes the runway before/simultaneous with the mains lift off on t/o or before/simultaneous with the mains touching down on landing, hence "tailstrike".

Aircraft that have minimum tail clearance when rotated for t/o or flared for landing usually have some sort of "tail skid" to protect the lower aft fuselage in the event of a tailstrike. The most visible example that comes to mind for a common aircraft is the Boeing 727 - the tailskik actually extends when the gear is down and it is easily visible. The Concorde had a similiar arrangement, which even appeared to incorporate a small wheel - would that be called a "tail wheel" instead of a tailskid? .

You can go to airliners.net and search for "tailstrike" and/or "tailskid" to see some pictures.

Jim

[post="299702"][/post]​

 

[Bremerton]

There are multiple reasons and ways a pilot can execute a go-around. I don't know anything about this incident, but if the pilot tailstruck on a go-around it's possible he did not have enough runway to stop and decided to try to go again, added power, and attempted to lift off again.

It would have to be a very hard tail strike to cause an aircraft to crash though.

 

[goingboeing]

I worked as a mechanic on B-727's for several years and they have a retractable stinger mounted on the lower fuselage just forward of the ventral stairs.It prevents the aft fuselage and tail section from contacting the runway if the pilot over rotates the aircraft on takeoff.

 

[CruelSummer]

could be a unionized event in a brothel??

Haha

Tailstrikes...

funny... I once got kicked out of a strip club for something with a very similiar description.

 

[SquawkAviation]

Perhaps the pilot didn't have the runway in sight when he approached his landing minimum altitude for the approach. ILS approached have lower minimum usually around 100-250 ft, however the pilot may have tried to push it, realized he was too low or too far over the runway and executed a go around. He may have nosed up too quickly causing the tail to impact the ground. As someone said before, this is unlikely to cause a crash unless it is a hard enough impact.