Narrative:
United Airlines flight 401 suffered a tail strike on landing on runway 16R at Denver International Airport, Colorado, USA.
There were no injuries. The airplane received substantial damage.
The first officer (FO) was the pilot flying and the captain was the pilot monitoring. During short final, the FO noticed he was about 5 knots fast, and about 50 feet above the runway, started to slowly reduce power and start the landing flare. At touchdown the airplane bounced. The FO was about to advance throttles for a go-around, when the captain took control and continued the landing after a second bounce. During the post flight walk around, the flight crew observed that the lower aft fuselage had sustained damaged due to a tailstrike.
Maintenance examination of the airplane found that the tailskid cartridge was compressed and there was substantial damage to the fuselage skin, frames, stringer clips and shear ties between fuselage station 827 to 907 and deformed stringers 27L and 27R.
Probable Cause: the early initiation of the landing flare that resulted in a high pitch attitude and tailstrike.
Runway mishap
KDEN 092053Z VRB03KT 10SM FEW050 FEW200 14/02 A3047 RMK AO2 SLP285 T01440022 58005
21:53 UTC / 15:53 local time:
KDEN 092153Z VRB03KT 10SM FEW050 FEW140 16/02 A3046 RMK AO2 SLP279 T01610022
22:53 UTC / 16:53 local time:
KDEN 092253Z 00000KT 10SM FEW055 FEW140 15/01 A3045 RMK AO2 SLP279 T01500011
| Status: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
| Date: | Sunday 9 June 2019 |
| Time: | 15:55 |
| Type: |  Boeing 737-924ER (WL) |
| Operator: | United Airlines |
| Registration: | N75436 |
| MSN: | 33531/2947 |
| First flight: | 2009-06-15 (10 years) |
| Total airframe hrs: | 33901 |
| Engines: | 2 CFMI CFM56-7B26 |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 6 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 178 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 184 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Aircraft fate: | Repaired |
| Location: | Denver International Airport, CO (DEN) ( United States of America)
|
| Phase: | Landing (LDG) |
| Nature: | Domestic Scheduled Passenger |
| Departure airport: | Reno-Cannon International Airport, NV (RNO/KRNO), United States of America |
| Denver International Airport, CO (DEN/KDEN), United States of America | |
| Flightnumber: | UA401 |
United Airlines flight 401 suffered a tail strike on landing on runway 16R at Denver International Airport, Colorado, USA.
There were no injuries. The airplane received substantial damage.
The first officer (FO) was the pilot flying and the captain was the pilot monitoring. During short final, the FO noticed he was about 5 knots fast, and about 50 feet above the runway, started to slowly reduce power and start the landing flare. At touchdown the airplane bounced. The FO was about to advance throttles for a go-around, when the captain took control and continued the landing after a second bounce. During the post flight walk around, the flight crew observed that the lower aft fuselage had sustained damaged due to a tailstrike.
Maintenance examination of the airplane found that the tailskid cartridge was compressed and there was substantial damage to the fuselage skin, frames, stringer clips and shear ties between fuselage station 827 to 907 and deformed stringers 27L and 27R.
Probable Cause:
Probable Cause: the early initiation of the landing flare that resulted in a high pitch attitude and tailstrike.
Accident investigation:
|
Classification:
TailstrikeRunway mishap
Sources:
» NTSBMETAR Weather report:
20:53 UTC / 14:53 local time:KDEN 092053Z VRB03KT 10SM FEW050 FEW200 14/02 A3047 RMK AO2 SLP285 T01440022 58005
21:53 UTC / 15:53 local time:
KDEN 092153Z VRB03KT 10SM FEW050 FEW140 16/02 A3046 RMK AO2 SLP279 T01610022
22:53 UTC / 16:53 local time:
KDEN 092253Z 00000KT 10SM FEW055 FEW140 15/01 A3045 RMK AO2 SLP279 T01500011
Photos
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line is connecting ADS-B datapoints from Flightradar24.
Distance from Reno-Cannon International Airport, NV to Denver International Airport, CO as the crow flies is 1282 km (801 miles).
Accident location: Exact; deduced from official accident report.
Distance from Reno-Cannon International Airport, NV to Denver International Airport, CO as the crow flies is 1282 km (801 miles).
Accident location: Exact; deduced from official accident report.
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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