Air carrier heavy transport suffers a tail strike on landing.

Attributes
ACN	141255
Time
Date	199003
Day	Sat
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : mia
State Reference	FL
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tower : mia
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Heavy Transport, Low Wing, 4 Turbojet Eng
Navigation In Use	Other
Flight Phase	descent : approach landing other
Route In Use	arrival other
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial pilot : cfi pilot : atp pilot : flight engineer
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 194 flight time total : 3046 flight time type : 1179
ASRS Report	141255
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	conflict : ground less severe other anomaly
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : insufficient time
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

The aircraft started to act unresponsively upon flare for landing, requiring excessive yoke travel to soften sink rate resulting in a strike of the aft drain mast and skin. I suspect cargo load was greater than represented by loading crew, requiring a higher vref speed, or a possible need for cads system calibration, as these are only possible explanations for aircraft behavior at the indicated airspeeds, which were proper for the reported weight and existing conditions. Recommendations: all cargo weights be certified correct on formal paperwork by a qualified and responsible loadmaster in foreign ports and more frequent check of cads system calibration for accuracy.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR HVT SUFFERS A TAIL STRIKE ON LNDG.

Narrative: THE ACFT STARTED TO ACT UNRESPONSIVELY UPON FLARE FOR LNDG, REQUIRING EXCESSIVE YOKE TRAVEL TO SOFTEN SINK RATE RESULTING IN A STRIKE OF THE AFT DRAIN MAST AND SKIN. I SUSPECT CARGO LOAD WAS GREATER THAN REPRESENTED BY LOADING CREW, REQUIRING A HIGHER VREF SPEED, OR A POSSIBLE NEED FOR CADS SYSTEM CALIBRATION, AS THESE ARE ONLY POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS FOR ACFT BEHAVIOR AT THE INDICATED AIRSPEEDS, WHICH WERE PROPER FOR THE REPORTED WEIGHT AND EXISTING CONDITIONS. RECOMMENDATIONS: ALL CARGO WEIGHTS BE CERTIFIED CORRECT ON FORMAL PAPERWORK BY A QUALIFIED AND RESPONSIBLE LOADMASTER IN FOREIGN PORTS AND MORE FREQUENT CHECK OF CADS SYSTEM CALIBRATION FOR ACCURACY.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.