Several weeks ago, a LATAM jet departing Italy for Brazil suffered a tail strike on takeoff, in what can only be described as a rather strange incident, as reported by The Aviation Herald. Investigators in Italy have now released their preliminary report as to what happened, and goodness, the crew really messed this one up…
LATAM 777 returns to Milan following takeoff tail strike
This incident happened on Tuesday, July 9, 2024, and involves LATAM flight LA8073, scheduled to fly from Milan, Italy (MXP), to Sao Paulo, Brazil (GRU). The flight was operated by an 11-year-old Boeing 777-300ER with the registration code PT-MUG.
At 1:26PM local time, the aircraft took off from Milan Malpensa Airport’s runway 35L. However, while rotating, the jet struck its tail on the runway. It didn’t just do that for a moment, but rather, runway scrapings were identified for a distance of 723 meters(!!!).
The aircraft safely became airborne, and stopped its climb at 5,000 feet. It then entered a holding pattern, then climbed to 6,000 feet, and then started dumping fuel, totaling 72,000 kg. Once at a safe landing weight, the aircraft returned to Milan Malpensa Airport roughly 75 minutes after it first departed.
Below you can see a video of the takeoff with the tail strike. The amount of smoke… yow!
Then below are some pictures of the aftermath from the incident.
The flight ended up being canceled. Five days after the incident, on July 14, 2024, the jet was ferried to Sao Paulo without passengers. It hasn’t flown since, so it has now been grounded in Brazil for several weeks.
What caused this unusual tail strike incident
With the number of flights that operate around the globe, of course things are going to go wrong sometimes. Tail strikes happen every so often, though it’s more common to see them during landing than takeoff. That’s because there’s a lot more variability with a landing than a takeoff.
That’s because landing is typically a more manual process. Meanwhile for takeoff, pilots just enter all the flight details into the flight management system (the aircraft’s weight, weather conditions, etc.), and then they’re told at what speed they should take off. It’s supposed to be pretty straightforward, assuming nothing goes wrong.
Italy’s ANSV (National Agency for the Safety of Flight) has now released its preliminary findings from this incident, and my gosh, unfortunately this mistake is as basic as it could possibly be. Long story short, the pilots programmed the flight management system incorrectly. It appears that they accidentally entered the the aircraft’s zero fuel weight (or something close to it) rather than the actual takeoff weight, when calculating the takeoff speed.
How big was the discrepancy?
- Based on how the computer was programmed, they were given a V1 (decision speed) of 145 knots, a VR (rotation speed) of 149 knots, and a V2 (takeoff safety speed) of 156 knots
- Based on the correct calculations that were carried out during the investigation, they should have had a V1 of 173 knots, a VR of 181 knots, and a V2 of 186 knots
The pilots started rotating the jet at 153 knots, and by the time the aircraft accelerated to 166 knots, it had a pitch of 8.2 degrees, leading to a tail strike. So yeah, the pilots just messed up the numbers. This is a pretty major mistake — it’s bad enough for this to be programmed in the first place, but the fact that none of the pilots noticed this mistake makes it even worse.
What’s also quite noteworthy is that this was an extremely experienced flight deck crew, with three captains — there was an instructor captain sitting in the right seat (who was flying this segment), a captain-in-training sitting in the left seat, and a relief captain sitting in the jump seat.
You would think that having an instructor captain flying the jet would offer the safest flying imaginable, yet it’s amazing how frequently accidents involve very senior crews. One can’t help but wonder if the cockpit dynamic was a factor here, with the captain-in-training not wanting to question the instructor captain.
Based on my understanding, it should’ve been obvious to the pilots that a fully loaded 777 taking off on a hot day wouldn’t have these takeoff parameters. Yet despite three captains in the cockpit, no one even took a second to question if the numbers were right.
Bottom line
Several weeks ago, a LATAM Boeing 777 suffered a tail strike while taking off at Milan Malpensa Airport. While tail strikes happen, they’re not very common while taking off in routine conditions.
Italy’s investigators have now released their preliminary findings from this incident, and this mistake was really bad. The pilots had entered the wrong information into the flight management system, so they calculated incorrect takeoff speeds. As a result, they rotated way too early, causing runway scrapings 723 meters in length. Worst of all, the person flying this segment was an instructor captain.
What do you make of this LATAM Boeing 777 incident?
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