Smartwings B38M at Funchal on Apr 12th 2026, tail scrape on departure

Last Update: August 5, 2026 / 16:26:27 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Apr 12, 2026

Classification
Incident

Airline
Smartwings

Flight number
QS-1171

Departure
Funchal, Portugal

Destination
Prague, Czech Republic

Aircraft Registration
OK-TSI

Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-800MAX

ICAO Type Designator
B38M

Airport
Madeira Airport, Funchal

Airport ICAO Code
LPMA

A Smartwings Boeing 737-8 MAX, registration OK-TSI performing flight QS-1171 from Funchal (Portugal) to Prague (Czech Republic), departed Funchal's runway 05 at 16:03Z when the tail of the aircraft contacted the runway surface. The aircraft continued the flight to Prague for a landing without further incident about 3:50 hours later.

Czechia's UZPLN reported the tail skid of the aircraft sustained minor damage. The flight crew did not hear any noises on departure, cabin crew believed the sound came from the luggage compartment. In the first rotation phase the pitch values were within the norm, however, in the second phase the pitch increased from 6 to 11.3 degrees within 2 seconds, the pitch rate between 3.22 and 4.04 degrees/second exceeded the 2 degrees/second recommended by Boeing. The company's investigation showed that the incident was caused by a higher than recommended rotation speed in combination with a transient wind gust at the time of rotation.

The aircraft returned to service about 14 hours after landing.

Metars:
LPMA 121630Z 01013KT 330V060 9999 SCT015 17/08 Q1026=
LPMA 121600Z 01014KT 9999 BKN015 16/08 Q1026=
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Apr 12, 2026

Classification
Incident

Airline
Smartwings

Flight number
QS-1171

Departure
Funchal, Portugal

Destination
Prague, Czech Republic

Aircraft Registration
OK-TSI

Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-800MAX

ICAO Type Designator
B38M

Airport
Madeira Airport, Funchal

Airport ICAO Code
LPMA

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