Delta B752 at Raleigh/Durham on May 20th 2017, tail strike on landing

Last Update: September 25, 2020 / 14:22:58 GMT/Zulu time

Bookmark this article

Incident Facts

Date of incident
May 19, 2017

Classification
Accident

Cause
Tail strike on landing

Airline
Delta Airlines

Flight number
DL-2534

Departure
Atlanta, United States

Destination
Raleigh/Durham, United States

Aircraft Registration
N633DL

Aircraft Type
Boeing 757-200

ICAO Type Designator
B752

A Delta Airlines Boeing 757-200, registration N633DL performing flight DL-2534 from Atlanta,GA to Raleigh/Durham,NC (USA) with 186 people on board, landed on Raleigh/Durham's runway 05L at 21:18L (01:18Z) but struck its tail onto the runway. The aircraft rolled out without further incident.

The aircraft was unable to perform the return flight to Atlanta and remained on the ground for 7 days before ferrying to San Antonio,TX (USA). The aircraft has not yet returned to service 13 days after the occurrence.

On Jun 2nd 2017 the FAA reported, erroneously identifying the aircraft as a Boeing 767, that the aircraft sustained minor damage. There were no injuries.

On Apr 28th 2020 the NTSB reported the occurrence was rated an accident and is being investigated by the NTSB. The NTSB wrote: "On May 20, 2017, about 2118 eastern daylight time, Delta Air Lines flight 2534, a Boeing 767-232, N633DL, experienced a tail strike while landing on runway 5L at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (KRDU), Morrisville, North Carolina. There were no injuries to the 186 passengers and crew members aboard. The airplane was substantially damaged. The flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 121 as a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (KATL), Atlanta, Georgia, to KRDU."

On Sep 25th 2020 the NTSB released their final report concluding the probable cause of the accident was:

the first officer's failure to attain a proper landing flare, which resulted in a tail strike.

The NTSB summarized the sequence of events:

The crew of the Part 121 scheduled passenger flight reported that the landing approach at the destination was stable. The first officer, who was the pilot flying, stated that the airplane was slightly high and fast when he began the landing flare and he pushed the nose down to correct. He then determined that he had overcorrected and began to recover by pulling the control column aft when the airplane landed firmly on the main landing gear and the aft fuselage impacted the runway. Postflight inspection revealed an area of abrasion damage to the aft fuselage and the underlying stringers and frames and damage to the aft pressure bulkhead.

The NTSB summarized the statement of the captain:

The captain stated that the arrival and approach were normal. He added that, upon crossing the runway threshold, it appeared that the first officer flared a bit high but that he corrected by lowering the nose toward the runway. The captain stated that had the first officer continued descent to the runway, they would have made an "acceptable" landing, but he abruptly pulled back on the yoke just before touchdown, and the airplane almost simultaneously contacted the runway on its main landing gear and tail.

Metars:
KRDU 200251Z 00000KT 10SM SCT100 BKN250 21/18 A3010 RMK AO2 SLP189 T02110183 53023 $=
KRDU 200151Z 34003KT 10SM FEW100 BKN250 22/18 A3008 RMK AO2 SLP182 T02170183=
KRDU 200051Z 00000KT 10SM FEW100 SCT200 BKN250 22/18 A3005 RMK AO2 SLP172 T02220178=
KRDU 192351Z 18004KT 10SM FEW050 FEW100 SCT200 BKN250 24/18 A3003 RMK AO2 TSE02 SLP166 60000 T02390178 10317 20228 50001=
KRDU 192308Z 07006KT 10SM FEW050 SCT100 BKN200 BKN250 24/18 A3004 RMK AO2 TSE02 OCNL LTG DSNT NE T02390178=
KRDU 192251Z 07005KT 10SM TS FEW050CB SCT100 BKN250 24/18 A3004 RMK AO2 PK WND 29027/2159 RAB21E40 TSB09 SLP166 OCNL LTGICCG NE TS NE MOV SE P0000 T02440178=
KRDU 192209Z 27008G24KT 10SM TS SCT044CB BKN060 BKN120 BKN250 25/18 A3005 RMK AO2 PK WND 29027/2159 TSB09 OCNL LTGICCG N TS N MOV SE T02500178=
KRDU 192151Z 25008KT 10SM FEW046 SCT060 BKN120 BKN250 28/20 A3005 RMK AO2 SLP171 OCNL LTG DSNT NW-N T02830200=