Boeing 757-251 N540US

Summary

On 7 August 2022 at about 01:15 local time, a Boeing 757-251 registered N540US, operated by Delta Air Lines Inc, was involved in an accident near Atlanta, Georgia, United States. 203 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

7 August 2022 at 01:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Int (KATL)

Coordinates

33.6407, -84.4277

Aircraft

Boeing 757-251

Registration

N540US

Category

Airplane

Year built

1996

Engines

2

Operator

Delta Air Lines Inc

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Lauderdale → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

DCA22LA178

Nobody was injured.

The overpitch control of the airplane during landing resulting in a tail strike.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Delta Air Lines flight 1696 sustained a tailstrike while landing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Atlanta, GA. The flight was a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight from Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) to ATL. The airplane sustained substantial damage, and there were no injuries to the 203 passengers and crew onboard. According to the flight crew, the captain was the pilot monitoring, and the first officer (FO) was the pilot flying. The captain reported that he was providing operational experience to the FO and that it was the FO’s first time landing the Boeing 757-200 model airplane. The airplane was in the landing configuration with flaps at 25 and on a stabilized approach at 1000 ft above ground level (AGL) on final approach to Runway 10 in night visual condition. After touchdown, the speed brakes deployed, and the FO reported that he applied too much aft pressure on the yoke causing the plane to lift back off the ground and the captain executed a “go-around” procedure. At this time the captain assumed the pilot flying role, and the airplane landed uneventfully. Both the captain and FO reported they had no indications of a tailstrike on the flight deck, they did not receive any passenger or flight attendant reports of any abnormalities and were unaware a tailstrike had occurred until the plane was inspected by maintenance later.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.