A B-757 struck its tail on takeoff.

Attributes
ACN	268155
Time
Date	199404
Day	Tue
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : sna
State Reference	CA
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B757 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	Other Other
Flight Phase	climbout : takeoff
Route In Use	departure : noise abatement departure other departure sid : sid
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : flight engineer pilot : atp pilot : cfi
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 100 flight time total : 2800 flight time type : 240
ASRS Report	268155
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	conflict : ground critical other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other controllera other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

Aircraft 757, weight 168800 pounds, normal V speeds, maximum takeoff thrust flaps 15 takeoff. Takeoff using the special noise abatement departure. Normal takeoff briefing for this airport and its special noise abatement procedure. Takeoff roll was normal with all sod callouts, rotation at vr. Just as the main gear left the runway! A noise, which sounded like a thud, was heard. We continued with the departure with all indications normal. Upon reaching a safe distance and altitude clear of all traffic. We tried to determine the cause of the noise. The flight attendants were questioned with regards to the noise, they said they heard a thump, but a scraping noise was not heard. As we proceeded on course, we contacted ramp control to see what kind of cargo we had in the rear cargo area, thinking it might have been cargo shifting which caused the noise. It wasn't cargo the ramp indicated. At the time, dispatch notified us that the tower indicated we might have had a tail strike on takeoff. The tower did not indicate this prior to switching frequencys. Upon landing and inspection, we had struck the tail on the APU doors. The takeoff was normal, the rotation seemed normal for this departure.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B-757 STRUCK ITS TAIL ON TKOF.

Narrative: ACFT 757, WT 168800 LBS, NORMAL V SPDS, MAX TKOF THRUST FLAPS 15 TKOF. TKOF USING THE SPECIAL NOISE ABATEMENT DEP. NORMAL TKOF BRIEFING FOR THIS ARPT AND ITS SPECIAL NOISE ABATEMENT PROC. TKOF ROLL WAS NORMAL WITH ALL SOD CALLOUTS, ROTATION AT VR. JUST AS THE MAIN GEAR LEFT THE RWY! A NOISE, WHICH SOUNDED LIKE A THUD, WAS HEARD. WE CONTINUED WITH THE DEP WITH ALL INDICATIONS NORMAL. UPON REACHING A SAFE DISTANCE AND ALT CLR OF ALL TFC. WE TRIED TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE NOISE. THE FLT ATTENDANTS WERE QUESTIONED WITH REGARDS TO THE NOISE, THEY SAID THEY HEARD A THUMP, BUT A SCRAPING NOISE WAS NOT HEARD. AS WE PROCEEDED ON COURSE, WE CONTACTED RAMP CTL TO SEE WHAT KIND OF CARGO WE HAD IN THE REAR CARGO AREA, THINKING IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN CARGO SHIFTING WHICH CAUSED THE NOISE. IT WASN'T CARGO THE RAMP INDICATED. AT THE TIME, DISPATCH NOTIFIED US THAT THE TWR INDICATED WE MIGHT HAVE HAD A TAIL STRIKE ON TKOF. THE TWR DID NOT INDICATE THIS PRIOR TO SWITCHING FREQS. UPON LNDG AND INSPECTION, WE HAD STRUCK THE TAIL ON THE APU DOORS. THE TKOF WAS NORMAL, THE ROTATION SEEMED NORMAL FOR THIS DEP.

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.