Boeing 737 N8327A

Summary

On 4 January 2014 at about 01:20 local time, a Boeing 737 registered N8327A, operated by Southwest Airlines Co, was involved in an accident near Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. 180 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

4 January 2014 at 01:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Nearest airport

Mc Carran Intl (LAS)

Coordinates

36.0800, -115.1522

Aircraft

Boeing 737

Registration

N8327A

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Southwest Airlines Co

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Orlando → Las Vegas

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

DCA14CA034

Nobody was injured.

the captain's over rotation during the bounced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

On January 3, 2014, at approximately 1930 pacific standard time, Southwest Airlines flight 2516, a Boeing 737-800, N8327A, experienced a tail strike during landing at McCarran International Airport (KLAS), Las Vegas, Nevada.  There were no injuries to the 180 passengers and crew onboard and the airplane was substantially damaged.  The flight was operating as a regularly scheduled passenger flight and originated from Orlando International Airport (KMCO), Orlando, Florida. According to the operator, the captain was the pilot flying and the first officer (FO) was the pilot monitoring. The accident flight was the first and only scheduled flight for the day for both crew members. Both pilots indicated that takeoff through the initial descent was uneventful. The aircraft was configured for a flaps 30 landing. During the ILS approach to runway 25L, the captain used the Heads-up Guidance System (HGS) in the IMC mode. During the decent below 100 feet, the FO indicated that the runway environment was dark and sensed the runway was "coming close fast". He noted a slightly increased descent rate and before he could make a callout, the captain had begun to take corrective action. During the descent, the captain stated he was hand flying the airplane (autopilot and autothrottles were off) and used the localizer, glideslope and flare cues from the HGS. At approximately 30 feet, he transitioned from the HGS to the runway environment, noting it appeared "pitch black." He then noticed the runway edge lights and what appeared to be an increased sink rate. Both pilots indicated the airplane touched down firm, then bounced, and the second touch down was harder than the first. Neither were aware that they had struck the tail. The captain did not recall seeing a tail strike warning indication from the HGS. Post flight inspection revealed that the tail strike indicator was compressed and deep scrapes and wear damage to the lower aft fuselage skin.  Further investigation revealed multiple fractured frames and buckled stringers, shear ties and straps.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.