Airbus A321-231 N921US accident near Charlotte, North Carolina

Probable cause

The captain’s failure to maintain the appropriate airspeed and pitch attitude during landing which resulted in a tailstrike.

NTSB analysis

American Airlines flight 1753 sustained a tailstrike while landing at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), Charlotte, NC. The flight was a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight from Fort Lauderdale, FL to CLT.

According to the flight crew, the captain was the pilot flying, and the first officer (FO) was the pilot monitoring when they were cleared to land on runway 18L at CLT. The airplane was in the landing configuration and on a stabilized approach at 1,000 ft. above ground level (AGL). While crossing the runway’s threshold the wind shifted from a 6 -7 knot headwind component to a 6–7 knot tailwind component, the airspeed began to decay, and the airplane’s sink rate increased. In an effort to correct for the sink rate the captain applied back sidestick. The airplane touched down firmly and bounced, coincidentally the ground spoilers deployed which resulted in a nose high attitude. The airplane touched down a second time decelerated and taxied uneventfully to the gate.

The captain stated that the ground spoiler deployment coinciding with the bounced touchdown resulted in an airplane nose-up pitch attitude. As a result, the pitch attitude increased until the tail struck the runway. After the tailstrike, and subsequent touchdown the remainder of the landing and landing rollout were normal with no risk of runway overrun or excursion.

The tailstrike resulted in abrasion damage along the aft lower fuselage, over an area of about 14 feet long by 2 feet wide. An inspection revealed substantial damage to several frames.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for DCA23LA278 for the full record.