American B752 at Las Vegas on Mar 21st 2020, tail strike on landing

Last Update: June 9, 2021 / 15:51:40 GMT/Zulu time

Bookmark this article

Photo of American Airlines N193AN, Boeing 757-200 — American Airlines N193AN, Boeing 757-200 (Photo credit: airlines470 / Flickr / License: CC by-sa)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
Mar 21, 2020

Classification
Accident

Cause
Tail strike on landing

Airline
American Airlines

Flight number
AA-2341

Departure
Miami, United States

Destination
Las Vegas, United States

Aircraft Registration
N193AN

Aircraft Type
Boeing 757-200

ICAO Type Designator
B752

Airport
McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas

Airport ICAO Code
KLAS

An American Airlines Boeing 757-200, registration N193AN performing flight AA-2341 (dep Mar 20th) from Miami,FL to Las Vegas,NV (USA) with 50 passengers and 8 crew, landed on Las Vegas' runway 26L at 00:30L (07:30Z) but struck its tail onto the runway surface. The aircraft rolled out without further incident.

The FAA reported the date and time of the occurrence as Mar 22nd 2020 04:50Z (Mar 21st 21:50), however, at this time N193AN was not flying nor was a flight AA-2341 operating. According to the FAA the aircraft received substantial damage when it experienced a tail strike on landing in Las Vegas, the occurrence was rated an accident.

A number of flights assigned to the aircraft were cancelled in the following days, on Mar 25th 2020 the aircraft positioned from Las Vegas to Roswell,NM (USA) cruising at maximum FL250 and has not flown since landing in Roswell, standing Jun 9th 2021 (editorial note: other American Boeing 757-200s also positioned to Roswell in the following days obviously for long term parking).

On Jun 9th 2021 the NTSB released their final report concluding the probable cause of the accident was:

the excessive pitch attitude at touchdown.

The NTSB analysed:

Due to staffing issues related to COVID-19, Las Vegas tower and TRACON were at ATC-zero, and the arrival was handled by Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZLA). The captain was the flying pilot and the first officer was monitoring.

According to the flight crew, the flight was cleared for a visual approach and they monitored the ILS 26L as a backup. The flight crew reported that the winds were from 040 degrees at 8 knots (slight tailwind), visibility greater than ten miles, and a thin layer of broken clouds at 17,000 feet. The captain conducted an approach briefing and the first officer conducted a Landing Distance Assessment to account for the slight tailwind. The first officer reported the approach was normal and stabilized, and they encountered a slight downdraft in the flare. The captain disconnected the autopilot at about 400 feet above the ground and the autothrottle at 200 feet. Flight data recorder data indicated that the pitch attitude was about 7 degrees at touchdown but, as the ground spoilers deployed, pitch attitude increased to 10.9 degrees. There was a 3 to 5 knot crosswind at touchdown.

Post-flight inspection of the airplane indicated the underside of the rear fuselage struck the runway, resulting in damage to the skin, frames, and aft pressure bulkhead.

Metars:
KLAS 210856Z 03005KT 10SM BKN070 12/03 A3016 RMK AO2 SLP205 T01170033 58007=
KLAS 210756Z 02004KT 10SM BKN080 12/03 A3017 RMK AO2 SLP210 T01170033 401560072=
KLAS 210656Z 04006KT 10SM BKN060 12/03 A3018 RMK AO2 SLP213 T01220028=
KLAS 210556Z 04007KT 10SM OVC070 12/03 A3018 RMK AO2 SLP216 T01220028 10139 20117 50003=
KLAS 210456Z 03006KT 10SM BKN070 BKN180 12/03 A3018 RMK AO2 SLP217 T01220033=
KLAS 210356Z 03008KT 10SM BKN070 BKN180 12/03 A3018 RMK AO2 SLP217 T01220033=
KLAS 210256Z 09006KT 10SM BKN075 BKN200 13/03 A3017 RMK AO2 SLP214 T01330033 55000=
KLAS 210156Z 00000KT 10SM FEW040 BKN100 BKN200 14/02 A3017 RMK AO2 SLP212 VCSH T01390022=
KLAS 210056Z 00000KT 10SM SCT040 BKN100 BKN200 14/02 A3017 RMK AO2 SLP213 VCSH CB DSNT N AND NE T01390017=