Saudia B773 at Jeddah on Dec 9th 2017, tail strike indication

Last Update: June 19, 2019 / 16:51:41 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Dec 9, 2017

Classification
Incident

Flight number
SV-21

Aircraft Registration
HZ-AK40

Aircraft Type
Boeing 777-300

ICAO Type Designator
B773

Airport ICAO Code
OEJN

A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 777-300, registration HZ-AK40 performing flight SV-21 from Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) to New York JFK,NY (USA), was in the initial climb out of Jeddah's runway 34C when the crew stopped the climb at FL060 due to a tail strike indication, dumped fuel and returned to Jeddah for a safe landing on runway 34R about one hour after departure.

A replacement Boeing 777-300 registration HZ-AK38 reached New York with a delay of 7 hours.

The airline reported an inspection of the occurrence airframe did not reveal any hull damage, however, the tail sensor needed to be replaced.

The occurrence aircraft returned to service about 22 hours after landing back.

In 2019 Saudi Arabia's AIB reported in a narrative not associated with any formal investigation report, that the final report had been released (however, the relevant section on the AIB website is entirely empty). The AIB summarized the sequence of events:

During the initial lift-off, the aircraft tail contacted runway 34C surface and the flight crew was alerted of a tail strike by the aircraft cockpit instrumentation. The flight crew complied with tail strike checklist and decided to return to OEJN. The Air Traffic Control (ATC) was notified and fuel dump had been executed. The aircraft landed uneventfully on runway 34R with no reported injuries. The aircraft sustained damage to the tail strike sensor, which had been eroded/chipped off as a result of the runway surface contact and no further empennage structural damage was noted.

The AIB summarized the conclusions of the final report:

The investigation concluded that the causal factor to this incident was the incorrect performance calculation made by the FDC and the absence of effective crosscheck in addition to incompliance with the requirement of the FCOM/SOP to reject takeoff.

The investigation also identified some other factors related to situational awareness and hurry-up syndrome.

Metars:
OEJN 090600Z 06006KT 4000 DU SKC 25/03 Q1016 NOSIG=
OEJN 090500Z 06006KT 5000 DU SKC 24/02 Q1015 NOSIG=
OEJN 090400Z 07007KT 6000 SKC 24/03 Q1015 NOSIG=
OEJN 090300Z 06007KT 8000 SKC 24/02 Q1013 NOSIG=
OEJN 090200Z 06008KT 8000 SKC 24/02 Q1013 NOSIG=
OEJN 090100Z 06008KT 8000 SKC 24/02 Q1013 NOSIG=
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Dec 9, 2017

Classification
Incident

Flight number
SV-21

Aircraft Registration
HZ-AK40

Aircraft Type
Boeing 777-300

ICAO Type Designator
B773

Airport ICAO Code
OEJN

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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