Narrative:

A visual approach was flown by the first officer. The descent pitch and speed were normal. The nose pitch appeared standard for the landing flair. The radar altimeter call-outs were at a measured pace. The landing was moderately firm. The ground spoilers deployed automatically and the first officer lowered the nose at a normal rate and deployed the thrust reverser. Several seconds after landing the yellow forward panel tail-skid light illuminated indicating that the tail-skid had been compressed. No other abnormal indications were noted. A logbook write-up was made; and company flight control and maintenance were contacted. The first officer inspected the tail-skid after landing; and the yellow paint was still on the tail-skid. There was no damage on the aircraft. Maintenance said that the tail-skid was minimally compressed. A contributing factor could have been that both eec's (electronic engine control) were inoperative (MEL'd) by maintenance. The 767-300 boeing manual states that the eec's automatically selects a higher approach-idle engine RPM when the gear is lowered or if the flaps are extended to landing. With the eec's inoperative perhaps the engines were at minimum idle and not at approach idle. When the first officer retarded the engines to idle in the flair the engines might have been performing at a different level than we are used to. It is highly unusual for us to fly a 767 in this condition; and perhaps a warning should be given concerning engine idle speed.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B767-300 crew experienced a tail skid strike during what they considered a normal approach and landing.

Narrative: A visual approach was flown by the First Officer. The descent pitch and speed were normal. The nose pitch appeared standard for the landing flair. The radar altimeter call-outs were at a measured pace. The landing was moderately firm. The ground spoilers deployed automatically and the First Officer lowered the nose at a normal rate and deployed the thrust reverser. Several seconds after landing the yellow forward panel tail-skid light illuminated indicating that the tail-skid had been compressed. No other abnormal indications were noted. A logbook write-up was made; and Company Flight Control and Maintenance were contacted. The First Officer inspected the tail-skid after landing; and the yellow paint was still on the tail-skid. There was no damage on the aircraft. Maintenance said that the tail-skid was minimally compressed. A contributing factor could have been that both EEC's (electronic engine control) were inoperative (MEL'd) by maintenance. The 767-300 Boeing manual states that the EEC's automatically selects a higher approach-idle engine RPM when the gear is lowered or if the flaps are extended to landing. With the EEC's inoperative perhaps the engines were at minimum idle and not at approach idle. When the First Officer retarded the engines to idle in the flair the engines might have been performing at a different level than we are used to. It is highly unusual for us to fly a 767 in this condition; and perhaps a warning should be given concerning engine idle speed.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.