A321, Manchester UK, 2011 (2)

A321, Manchester UK, 2011 (2)

Summary

On 23 December 2011, an Austrian Airlines Airbus A321 sustained a tail strike at Manchester as the main landing gear contacted the runway during a night go around initiated at a very low height after handling difficulties in the prevailing wind shear. The remainder of the go around and subsequent approach in similar conditions was uneventful and the earlier tail strike was considered to have been the inevitable consequence of initiating a go around so close to the ground after first reducing thrust to idle. Damage to the aircraft rendered it unfit for further flight until repaired but was relatively minor.

Description

On 23 December 2011, an Airbus A321-200 being operated by Austrian Airlines on a passenger flight from Innsbruck to Manchester sustained a tail strike as the main landing gear made contact with runway 23R soon after the initiation of a go around from a very low height in night VMC following handling difficulties due to the prevailing wind shear. Damage to the aircraft rendered it unfit for further flight until repaired but was relatively minor.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the UK AAIB. FDR data was recovered and successfully replayed. The sequence of events was reconstructed to examine the effect of the difficult conditions on aircraft handling during the final stages of the approach and the commencement of the go around. It was noted that the First Officer was PF and that neither of the crew had previously operated to Manchester. When checking their pre flight briefing material on the destination, the only significant point noted was in respect of the runway 23R longitudinal profile.

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