Can an airplane's tail touch the runway during takeoff? Of course it can, and such incidents have happened many times in the history of aviation. They even have a special name – “tailstrike”, which means “tail strike” in English. For example, a tailstrike occurred during the most tragic air disaster in history, when two Boeing 747s collided at Los Rodeos Airport in 1977. The tail of an airplane touches the ground when the pilot lifts the plane too steeply into the air, which is called a high angle of attack. In other words, the main cause of tailstrikes is pilot error. However, it remains a mystery why some airplanes touch the ground with their tails much more often than others.
A plane touching the runway is called a tailstrike. Photo source: dzen.ru
Contents
- 1 Which planes most often touch the runway with their tail
- 2 What happens to an airplane during a tailstrike
- 3 How are planes protected from tailstrikes
- 4 The Most Tragic Aircraft Crash in History
Which Aircraft Most Often Hits the Runway with Their Tail
Tailstrikes are typical for large airliners. Moreover, the longer the aircraft, the higher the risk of its tail hitting the runway. For example, the length of the Boeing 737-100 was just over 28 meters. The length of the more modern Boeing 737-900 model exceeds 42 meters.
Most often, passenger airliners touch the runway with their tail. Photo source: dzen.ru
The increase in the length of the aircraft allowed to accommodate more passengers in the cabin, but at the same time the takeoff and landing angles were significantly reduced. Therefore, when taking off a Boeing 737-900, a gap between the tail and the runway of 30-50 centimeters is considered the norm. Just imagine how precise the pilots' work must be. The slightest mistakes can lead to a tailstrike.
What happens to the plane during a tailstrike
Airplane pilots sometimes may not even know that the machine's tail has touched the ground. However, in this case, the incident is reported by the flight attendants, who are in the tail of the cabin at the time of takeoff. The pilots are obliged to immediately take action – stop gaining altitude and return to the departure airport.
Pilots can also depressurize the aircraft, which reduces the load on the fuselage. In this case, the altitude decrease for landing is carried out at a speed of no more than 5 meters per second. This avoids sudden pressure drops, and thus does not create unnecessary discomfort for passengers.
Tailstrike can cause serious damage to the aircraft. Photo source: novate.ru
As you probably understand, a tailstrike during takeoff is not a dangerous incident that necessarily leads to an air crash, but it is impossible to continue flying after it. Before using the aircraft again, it must undergo a thorough diagnostics. If it turns out that the pressurized cabin is damaged, the aircraft requires repairs. According to one airline, each tailstrike costs $ 12 million.
It must be said that the long-term consequences of a tailstrike can be much more dangerous. If the fuselage was poorly inspected or poorly repaired, this can lead to the complete destruction of the aircraft. Moreover, an air crash can occur even many years after the tailstrike incident.
The most destructive tailstrikes occur during landing. Photo source: dzen.ru
Even more dangerous is a tailstrike during landing. It leads to much more destructive consequences. As a rule, in this case the aircraft always requires expensive repairs.
How are aircraft protected from tailstrikes
Tailstrikes are not a common occurrence. According to Boeing statistics, there are no more than 40 tailstrikes per 1 million completed flights. However, aircraft designers have taken certain measures to protect aircraft from damage.
The Concorde airplane had special wheels in the tail section. Photo source: ixbt.com
For example, the supersonic passenger airliner Concorde had special tail wheels. Thanks to them, nothing happened to the plane when it slightly touched the runway. Also, many planes have mechanical shock absorbers and other means of protection. For example, the Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 planes are equipped with algorithmic protection against tail touching the runway, that is, a tailstrike is simply impossible on this plane.
An element of aircraft protection against the consequences of a tailstrike. Photo source: ixbt.com
Unfortunately, all design solutions such as wheels and shock absorbers protect the aircraft from light impacts that occur during takeoff. As mentioned above, tailstrikes are more destructive during landing. Due to the strong impact, the fuselage is damaged in any case.
The most tragic air crash in history
The Los Rodeos Airport crash on March 27, 1977 is considered the most tragic in aviation history, as it killed 583 people. The high number of casualties was due to the collision of two Boeing 747 aircraft filled with passengers.
The plane crash at Los Rodeos Airport is considered the most tragic in the history of aviation. Photo source: somanyhorses.ru
The planes of KLM and Pan American airlines were involved in the plane crash. Due to communication problems and poor visibility, both planes ended up on the same runway and were moving towards each other. The pilots of the KLM plane, seeing that another airliner was approaching them, sharply raised their nose in an attempt to avoid a collision. However, this led to a strong tail strike on the runway, in addition, due to increased wind resistance, the speed of the plane decreased. As a result, it was not possible to take off and a collision occurred.
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The tailstrike itself was not the cause of the plane crash. But perhaps the pilots would have managed to take off and avoid a collision if they had not sharply raised the nose of the Boeing. In other cases, tailstrikes ended without casualties.