Delta Boeing 767 tail strike at Las Vegas with smoke from the tail skid

Tail Strikes Explained: Why Airliners Scrape Their Tails

by Connor Kerr | Sep 28, 2026 | Aviation militaire | 0 comments

Watch a long airliner rotate on take-off and there is a moment when the nose is high, the main wheels are still on the concrete and the tail is only a metre or two above the runway. Rotate a little too fast, or a little too early, and that gap closes. The result is a tail strike: a scrape, a shower of sparks, sometimes nothing more than a painted skid plate ground away. Sometimes much more.

Tail strikes are in the news again after an IndiGo A321 scraped its tail at Bengaluru on 27 September 2026. They are rare, rarely dangerous in themselves, and almost always avoidable. Here is why they happen, which aircraft are most exposed, and why engineers take even a light scrape very seriously.

Informations clés

Quoi: The tail or rear fuselage touching the runway during take-off, landing or a go-around
Take-off vs landing: About 25% at take-off and 65% at landing, according to Airbus data from 2004
Most exposed: Long-fuselage aircraft, because tail clearance depends on pitch attitude versus aircraft geometry
Typical landing trigger: A second touchdown after a bounce, or a prolonged flare
Typical take-off trigger: Rotating too early, too fast, or with wrong weight or trim data
Protection: Tail skids, pitch limit indications and "PITCH" callouts on some types
Worst long-term risk: Undetected or badly repaired damage to the aft pressure bulkhead

Geometry Is Everything

An airliner rotates around its main landing gear. The further the tail sits behind those wheels, the less nose-up pitch it takes before the tail meets the runway. That is why stretched versions of a type, the A321 rather than the A320, the 737-900 rather than the 737-700, the 777-300 rather than the 777-200, are the ones that most often carry tail skids and extra warnings.

Airbus puts it plainly in its Flight Operations Briefing Note on the subject: tail strikes can happen with any aircraft, but occur more often with long ones, because the risk is directly tied to pitch attitude versus aircraft geometry and to how far the main landing gear is extended.

Manufacturers actually go looking for tail strikes during certification. In the minimum unstick speed (Vmu) test, test pilots deliberately drag the tail along the runway on a protective skid to find the slowest speed at which the aircraft can lift off. It is one of the most spectacular sights in flight testing.

Why Take-Off Strikes Happen

A classic 1998 study published in Boeing's AERO magazine, based on an examination of tail strike events by the company's Douglas Products Division, found eight recurring risk factors. On take-off: a mis-trimmed stabiliser, rotation at the wrong speed, an excessive rotation rate and improper use of the flight director.

The most common root cause is wrong numbers. If the crew enters a take-off weight that is too low, the calculated rotation speed will be too low, and the jet will be asked to fly before it can. On 20 March 2009, Emirates Flight 407, an Airbus A340-500, struck its tail and scraped along the runway at Melbourne after a data-entry error in the take-off calculation. It only became airborne beyond the end of the runway and hit lights and an antenna before climbing away and returning to land. Nobody was hurt, but the Australian Transport Safety Bureau classed it as an accident.

Underside damage to Emirates Flight 407 after the tail strike at Melbourne — Damage to the underside of the Emirates A340-500 after its tail strike on take-off at Melbourne on 20 March 2009. Photo: Australian Transport Safety Bureau / CC BY 3.0 AU

“Most importantly, the examination showed that each is under the direct control of the flight crew, and therefore can be avoided with proper understanding and training.”

Boeing AERO magazine — issue 4, October 1998, on the eight tail strike risk factors

Why Landing Strikes Happen

Airbus data from 2004 found that about 65% of reported tail strikes happen on landing, against about 25% on take-off. The Boeing study's landing risk factors were an unstabilised approach, holding off in the flare, mishandling crosswinds and over-rotating during a go-around.

The trap is the instinct to make a smooth touchdown. If the jet is slow, or sinking fast close to the ground, the natural reaction is to pull the nose up to cushion the landing. That raises the tail towards the runway at exactly the wrong moment. If the aircraft bounces, a second pull for a softer second touchdown is how many landing tail strikes happen. Airbus's guidance for a light bounce is to hold a normal landing attitude and never increase it.

“Tailstrikes at landing generally cause more damage than tailstrikes at takeoff because the tail may strike the runway before the main gear, and cause damage to the aft pressure bulkhead.”

Airbus — Flight Operations Briefing Note, Preventing Tailstrike at Landing

Gusts make all of this harder. A sudden drop in wind speed during the flare steals airspeed, and the fix, more nose-up, again eats into tail clearance. That is the kind of condition IndiGo described at Bengaluru.

Air Astana Boeing 767 tail strike at Schiphol — An Air Astana Boeing 767 with its tail on the runway at Amsterdam Schiphol. Photo: Maarten Visser / CC BY-SA 2.0

Why Engineers Worry About a Scrape

The damage from a tail strike is often hidden. The rear of the fuselage houses the aft pressure bulkhead, the dome that holds cabin pressure in. A strike can crack or distort it, and a crack that is not found, or not repaired correctly, can grow with every pressurisation cycle.

Aviation's two worst examples prove the point. Japan Air Lines Flight 123 crashed in 1985, killing 520 people, after its 747's bulkhead failed; investigators traced the failure to a faulty repair following a 1978 tail strike, which happened on the second touchdown after a bounce. China Airlines Flight 611 broke up in flight in 2002 because of fatigue cracks stemming from a 1980 tail strike that was not repaired according to Boeing's manuals.

That is why any aircraft suspected of a tail strike is grounded for inspection, and why modern types have tail skids, pitch limit indications on the primary flight display and synthetic "PITCH, PITCH" callouts. The goal is simple: keep the tail off the runway, and if it touches, find every crack before the jet flies again.

Sources: Airbus Flight Operations Briefing Note "Preventing Tailstrike at Landing"; Boeing AERO magazine No. 4 (1998); IATA Safety Risk Assessment "Aircraft Tail Strikes" (2023); Wikipedia and ATSB records on Emirates Flight 407, Japan Air Lines Flight 123 and China Airlines Flight 611.

Foire aux questions

What is a tail strike on an airliner?

A tail strike is when the tail or rear fuselage of an aircraft touches the runway, usually because the nose is pitched up too far during take-off, landing or a go-around. It can range from a light scrape on a protective skid to serious structural damage.

Are tail strikes more common on take-off or landing?

Airbus data from 2004 found about 65% of reported tail strikes happened on landing and about 25% on take-off. Landing tail strikes often follow a bounce, when the crew raises the nose for a smoother second touchdown.

Why are long aircraft like the Airbus A321 more prone to tail strikes?

Aircraft rotate around their main landing gear, so the further the tail sits behind the wheels, the less nose-up pitch it takes before the tail touches the runway. Stretched versions such as the A321, 737-900 and 777-300 therefore have less tail clearance.

What causes a tail strike on take-off?

Common causes are rotating too early or too fast, a mis-trimmed stabiliser and wrong take-off data. Entering a take-off weight that is too low produces rotation speeds that are too low, as happened to Emirates Flight 407 at Melbourne in 2009.

Why are tail strikes dangerous if the plane lands safely?

A tail strike can damage the aft pressure bulkhead. If the damage is missed or badly repaired, cracks can grow with each flight. Japan Air Lines Flight 123 in 1985 and China Airlines Flight 611 in 2002 were both caused by faulty repairs after earlier tail strikes.

How do aircraft protect against tail strikes?

Many long-fuselage airliners have tail skids, and modern cockpits can show a pitch limit indication or give automatic “PITCH” callouts. The main protection is pilot technique: correct take-off data, the right rotation rate, stable approaches and no prolonged flare.