Airbus A321-231 N583NK

Summary

On 18 September 2005 at about 22:12 local time, a Airbus A321-231 registered N583NK, operated by Spirit Airlines Inc, was involved in an accident near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. 197 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 September 2005 at 22:12

Classification

Accident

Location

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Hollywood Intl Airport (FLL)

Coordinates

26.1201, -80.1293

Aircraft

Airbus A321-231

Registration

N583NK

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Spirit Airlines Inc

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

New York → Fort Lauderdale

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DCA05MA099

Nobody was injured.

Following a bounced landing, the pilot in command activated his sidestick controller while the first officer was in control of the airplane, which subsequently resulted in the overcontrol of pitch and a tailstrike. Contributing to the circumstances of this accident were the pilot-in-command's failure to properly activate his sidestick takeover push button prior to his remedial action, and the operator's insufficient emphasis on bounced landing recovery techniques and tailstrike avoidance procedures.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

Upon landing, an Airbus A321, experienced a tail strike upon landing. The First Officer (FO) stated that over the threshold at an altitude of about 50 feet, "it just literally felt like we lost inertia." The Captain believed that the flare was initiated too late and was incomplete. The FO stated that before touchdown, he lowered the nose a little bit and the aircraft touched down firmly. The aircraft bounced and the FO believed he again lowered the nose to prevent a tail strike. The Captain remembered that as the nose of the aircraft was lowering prior to the second touchdown, he may have pulled back on his side stick controller slightly to prevent the nose gear from striking the runway at too great a speed. After the aircraft touched down a second time the tailstrike occurred. Information extracted from the aircraft's flight data recorder revealed that both side stick controllers were activated simultaneously during the tailstrike. According to the manufacturer, when both side stick controllers are activated simultaneously (at least 2 degrees deflection off the neutral position) in the same or opposite directions and neither pilot takes priority via the takeover push button, the system adds the signals of both pilots algebraically. Airbus had issued Flight Crew Operating bulletins concerning bounced landings and tailstrikes but the pilots stated that no classroom or simulator training was received to reinforce the meaning and contents of the bulletins.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.