

Narrative:
A Boeing 767-283ER passenger plane, XA-TOJ, sustained substantial damage in a tailstrike accident during takeoff from Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD), Spain.
At 14:58 Aeroméxico flight 002 took off from Madrid on a scheduled flight to Mexico City, Mexico. On board were three pilots, six flight attendants and 154 passengers. During takeoff the tail impacted runway 36L, causing substantial damage to the underside of the tail. While climbing to FL140 the cabin failed to pressurize as expected. Then the oxygen masks deployed in the cabin. At 15:20 the flight crew informed the controller at Madrid that they were returning due to pressurization problems. The airplane entered a holding pattern and landed safely on runway 18R at 16:25.
Air Europa flight 71 to Caracas, Venezuela took off at 15:29 and suffered a punctured nose gear tyre, probably after running over debris left on the runway after the Aéromexico tailstrike. AEA71 was the seventh flight to take off from runway 36L following the Aeroméxico plane. The Airbus A330-200, EC-JPF, entered a holding pattern off the southern coast of Portugal at FL100 and landed safely back at Madrid at 19:39.
Causes (translated from Spanish):
The accident occurred because the aircraft rotated at a speed much lower than necessary because it had been incorrectly calculated during the dispatch, based on the weight of the aircraft with zero fuel (ZFW) instead of the takeoff weight of the aircraft (TOW). Then the error was not detected by the crew when entering data into the FMS.
Contributing factors:
- The On-Board Performance Tool (OPT) was recently introduced in the company.
- The experience of both the dispatch officer as well as crew members was insufficient in this area.
- The On-Board Performance Tool (OPT) was not installed at the Madrid station so that the transmission of the information was not performed according to procedures.
Tailstrike
Runway mishap
accident date: 16-04-2013
type: Boeing 767-283ER
registration: XA-TOJ
| Status: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
| Date: | Tuesday 16 April 2013 |
| Time: | 14:58 |
| Type: |  Boeing 767-283ER |
| Operator: | Aeroméxico |
| Registration: | XA-TOJ |
| MSN: | 24727/301 |
| First flight: | 1990-04-05 (23 years ) |
| Total airframe hrs: | 99771 |
| Engines: | 2 Pratt & Whitney PW4056 |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 9 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 154 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 163 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Aircraft fate: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD) ( Spain)
|
| Phase: | Takeoff (TOF) |
| Nature: | International Scheduled Passenger |
| Departure airport: | Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD/LEMD), Spain |
| Mexico City-Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX/MMMX), Mexico | |
| Flightnumber: | AM002 |
A Boeing 767-283ER passenger plane, XA-TOJ, sustained substantial damage in a tailstrike accident during takeoff from Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD), Spain.
At 14:58 Aeroméxico flight 002 took off from Madrid on a scheduled flight to Mexico City, Mexico. On board were three pilots, six flight attendants and 154 passengers. During takeoff the tail impacted runway 36L, causing substantial damage to the underside of the tail. While climbing to FL140 the cabin failed to pressurize as expected. Then the oxygen masks deployed in the cabin. At 15:20 the flight crew informed the controller at Madrid that they were returning due to pressurization problems. The airplane entered a holding pattern and landed safely on runway 18R at 16:25.
Air Europa flight 71 to Caracas, Venezuela took off at 15:29 and suffered a punctured nose gear tyre, probably after running over debris left on the runway after the Aéromexico tailstrike. AEA71 was the seventh flight to take off from runway 36L following the Aeroméxico plane. The Airbus A330-200, EC-JPF, entered a holding pattern off the southern coast of Portugal at FL100 and landed safely back at Madrid at 19:39.
Probable Cause:
Causes (translated from Spanish):
The accident occurred because the aircraft rotated at a speed much lower than necessary because it had been incorrectly calculated during the dispatch, based on the weight of the aircraft with zero fuel (ZFW) instead of the takeoff weight of the aircraft (TOW). Then the error was not detected by the crew when entering data into the FMS.
Contributing factors:
- The On-Board Performance Tool (OPT) was recently introduced in the company.
- The experience of both the dispatch officer as well as crew members was insufficient in this area.
- The On-Board Performance Tool (OPT) was not installed at the Madrid station so that the transmission of the information was not performed according to procedures.
Accident investigation:

 |
|
Classification:
Tailstrike
Runway mishap
Sources:
» CIAIACPhotos
accident date: 16-04-2013
type: Boeing 767-283ER
registration: XA-TOJ
Video, social media
Aeromexico #Boeing 767-200 (XA-TOJ) had a tailstrike at MAD twitpic.com/cju5g0
— Karel Souffriau (@karelxwb) April 16, 2013
Aircraft history
| date | registration | operator | remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 05 APR 1990 | N6018N | Boeing | first flight |
| 01 JUN 1990 | SE-DKP | SAS Scandinavian Airlines | delivered |
| 21 SEP 1993 | PT-TAI | Transbrasil | delivered |
| 27 JUN 1999 | XA-TOJ | Aéromexico | delivered |
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Madrid-Barajas Airport to Mexico City-Benito Juárez International Airport as the crow flies is 9004 km (5627 miles).
Accident location: Approximate; accuracy within a few kilometers.
Distance from Madrid-Barajas Airport to Mexico City-Benito Juárez International Airport as the crow flies is 9004 km (5627 miles).
Accident location: Approximate; accuracy within a few kilometers.
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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