Aircraft tail strikes happen every now and again, though this is one of the more unusual ones that I’ve seen caught on camera…
Continue reading: DHL Airbus A300 Suffers Bizarre Tail Strike & Go Around At Heathrow
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Boy you’re working late on a Sunday, Ben! We love the quantity of content but get some rest and time with family!
That was such a superb example of pilot error, good viz and practically no wind to speak of.
I have no expertise to add to this conversation whatsoever, but I do live in northwest London (roughly on the letter W of Wembley on the map in Ben's article) and saw this plane going around over my house at about 3,000ft as I was playing in the garden with my daughter! We immediately recognised it as a go-around and when the two BA A320s following it also went around we thought that there must be been something wrong. Presumably they did a quick runway check.
How exciting to finally be vaguely involved in one of Ben's posts! Thanks for the great content, Ben!
For the record it was a beautiful afternoon in London with no wind at all, so no idea what was going on with the landing.
Hi Ben.
I enjoy your blog. Usually fun and interesting articles and you are quite knowledgeable regarding aviation operations. 1 thing I will correct you on is that the reverse thrust was NOT deployed. Every airliner that I have flown, 8 as of now, are to NEVER perform a go around once the reverse thrust has been selected.
A couple observations:
It's pilot induced. Note the hardcore nose up inputs on the elevator position.
Followed by nose down inputs, and spoiler deployment.
Spoilers put a load on the aft of the wing, which exacerbates any nose-up moment.
This was followed by what looks to be FULL nose up on the elevators.
Early on in this sequence, it was irrecoverable. But, provided that the other commenters' assessments that the weather was clear and free from wind gusts is accurate, I can see no excuse for this event.
People tend to over-control. This tendency must be trained out of pilots, and in this case, I'm not sure that was successful.
Not an expert but A300 do have a bit of a reputation when it comes to landing. They are not the most agile/responsive at low speeds and feel a bit like a flying cow, so it can be hard to stick a landing, specially if heavy with cargo.
@Oscar, At what time stamp do you see that? I watched it several times and see no indication of reversers. Unless it is while the engines are out of the shot, I would also say no reversers deployed
I can't believe this wasn't a Delta pilot. This is the first article on OMAAT in several weeks when it wasn't a Delta pilot screwing up...
@CPH-Flyer, At 0:16 the reversers deploy. It’s only visible for a moment but it definitely happens.
If I was a betting man… and if my understanding of the Airbus FBW system is accurate, they probably commanded TOGA thrust right at the “third” touchdown, roughly the same time the reversers came out. With both mains touching the ground, the flight computer would have transitioned to ground law control rules which would have allowed the full elevator deflection.
Could this have been caused by improper loading, with freight shifting toward the back?
Doesn’t take much to get a job flying freight in Germany. A tailstrike in Leipzig, by an A300 flying for DHL, Feb 9 2024, occurred while the First Officer was Pilot Flying. She had 589 hours total flying experience, of which 433 were on type (115 landings).
@Timtantrak
Thank you. I see it now. I wonder if any actual reverse thrust was generated or it was stopped too quickly again? Blink and you'll miss it.
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The A300 is not a fly by wire type, the elevators works only with manual or autopilot input, there’s an uncoupling mechanism on both elevators working till 195 knots from EFCU computer, the deflection limit is from pitch feel computer that acts above 125knots.
Ididwatchit a second and third time and I don’t believe that the reversers were deployed. I think what we are seeing is the spacing between the cowl and the engine exhaust.