An incident from earlier in the week has left a Cathay Pacific A350-1000 grounded in Hong Kong after it suffered a tail strike during a go-around. Despite the tail strike, the aircraft was able to ascend to the required altitude during the go-around and land safely on its second attempt.
The aircraft has been grounded for four days and counting, with the airline’s engineering team carrying out relevant inspections and repairs before the A350 can return to commercial service.
Details Of The Tail-Strike Incident
A tail strike is reported when the underside of an aircraft’s tail comes in contact with the ground, which usually occurs when the aircraft is taking off or landing with an abnormally high pitch-up (nose up) attitude. In this instance, an Airbus A350-1000 operated by Cathay Pacific was performing a go-around at 
Hong Kong International Airport(HKG). The Aviation Herald reported that the aircraft was an inbound service from Ho Chi Min City, and when the aircraft first attempted to land on Runway 07C, the aircraft reportedly began veering off to the left, forcing the crew to perform a go-around.
It was during this process that the aircraft suffered a tail strike. Despite this mishap, the aircraft safely climbed to 6,000 feet and attempted a second landing on the same runway. Data from FlightRadar24 shows that the second landing was successful, 34 minutes past the flight’s scheduled arrival time. Aircraft data indicates that the A350 involved is only four years old.
Having landed 11 minutes before midnight, local time, on Wednesday, November 26, the aircraft has not performed any further flights since, indicating that it is still grounded and undergoing inspection and maintenance. Simple Flying has reached out to the airline to know further details about the incident and the status of the aircraft. Any response will be updated in this article.
Can Anything Be Done To Prevent Tail Strike?
While pilots are trained to avoid tail strikes, it is still a relatively common occurrence around the world. Data from European manufacturer Airbus, indicates that tail strikes are more likely to occur during the landing phase compared to when an aircraft is taking off, with both respectively accounting for 65% and 25% of recorded tail strikes. While these incidents can cause damage to aircraft and pose a safety risk, manufacturers have worked on designing technology and software to help reduce the number of these incidents.
Some Airbus aircraft have features such as pitch limitations indicated on the Primary Flight Display during landing phases, below 400 feet, while the aircraft also issues audio alerts, calling “PITCH PITCH”, if the aircraft detects the pitch has exceeded a certain limit. Alternatively, 
Boeing, since 2003, has had the Tail-Strike Protection system (first introduced on the Boeing 777-300ER), which detects the rate of rotation during take-off, and if the aircraft senses its tail is getting close to the ground, the aircraft responds by adjusting its elevator to slow down the aircraft’s rotation.
Usually, when performing go-arounds in such a situation, the decisions made can be instantaneous, which would see the crew provide pitch-up input to the aircraft, while also activating Take-Off/Go-Around (TOGA) thrust setting. This has the aircraft’s autopilot and auto-thrust systems working in tandem, providing the aircraft with a sudden burst of power, required to initiate a quick climb. However, it is worth noting that an increase in engine thrust also provides the aircraft with a pitch-up moment, therefore requiring careful coordination between the power and the pilot input.
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Pilots Are Trained For Various Abnormal Scenarios
Considering most commercial aircraft these days are filled with advanced technology and automation, it remains critical that pilots are capable of flying the aircraft manually when required. As such, pilots undergo simulation training and practice sessions every six months to ensure that they have the required skills and knowledge to execute certain maneuvers and procedures in a simulated environment.
These simulated sessions can include pilots navigating a variety of different abnormal situations, ranging from an engine failure to performing rejected take-offs or performing go-arounds.
On another note, manufacturers purposefully perform a tail-strike on a new aircraft type during its certification process to establish the aircraft’s Minimum Unstick Speed (Vmu), which is essentially the lowest speed at which the aircraft can get airborne. This is performed by the test pilots performing the take-off with the maximum pitch-up attitude of the aircraft. However, the aircraft’s tail is protected during the test by fitting a tail-skid.
