Aircraft damage tailskid scrape and minor damage to APU door.

Attributes
ACN	295603
Time
Date	199501
Day	Mon
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : ord
State Reference	IL
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	MD-80 Super 80
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	Other
Flight Phase	ground : parked landing other
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial pilot : instrument
ASRS Report	295603
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
ASRS Report	295328
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe non adherence : published procedure other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other other : unspecified
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	other
Miss Distance	horizontal : 0 vertical : 0
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

I was the first officer on flight X dfw-tus and flight Y tus-ord on jan/mon/95. After arrival at ord, damage to the tail was detected. Captain and I were paged to return to the aircraft where we observed the tailskid indicator still safety wired in the normal position. On closer inspection, however, the skid was scraped on the bottom and the APU ram air door was damaged. Both of our takeoffs and lndgs were normal (40 degrees flaps) and never approached an over-rotation condition. The APU was never started prior to landing and was off for takeoff. Since the damage was mostly to the APU ram air door, and the tailskid indicator was always in the normal position, I assume the damage was caused prior to our flts by someone starting the APU on approach and touching down just as the door was cycling. I obviously did not detect the damage on either preflight. Supplemental information from acn 295328: upon closed inspection, bottom of tailskid had paint scraped away. A plastic drain was broken and damage to the APU ram door was noted.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACFT DAMAGE TAILSKID SCRAPE AND MINOR DAMAGE TO APU DOOR.

Narrative: I WAS THE FO ON FLT X DFW-TUS AND FLT Y TUS-ORD ON JAN/MON/95. AFTER ARR AT ORD, DAMAGE TO THE TAIL WAS DETECTED. CAPT AND I WERE PAGED TO RETURN TO THE ACFT WHERE WE OBSERVED THE TAILSKID INDICATOR STILL SAFETY WIRED IN THE NORMAL POS. ON CLOSER INSPECTION, HOWEVER, THE SKID WAS SCRAPED ON THE BOTTOM AND THE APU RAM AIR DOOR WAS DAMAGED. BOTH OF OUR TKOFS AND LNDGS WERE NORMAL (40 DEGS FLAPS) AND NEVER APCHED AN OVER-ROTATION CONDITION. THE APU WAS NEVER STARTED PRIOR TO LNDG AND WAS OFF FOR TKOF. SINCE THE DAMAGE WAS MOSTLY TO THE APU RAM AIR DOOR, AND THE TAILSKID INDICATOR WAS ALWAYS IN THE NORMAL POS, I ASSUME THE DAMAGE WAS CAUSED PRIOR TO OUR FLTS BY SOMEONE STARTING THE APU ON APCH AND TOUCHING DOWN JUST AS THE DOOR WAS CYCLING. I OBVIOUSLY DID NOT DETECT THE DAMAGE ON EITHER PREFLT. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 295328: UPON CLOSED INSPECTION, BOTTOM OF TAILSKID HAD PAINT SCRAPED AWAY. A PLASTIC DRAIN WAS BROKEN AND DAMAGE TO THE APU RAM DOOR WAS NOTED.

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.