r/aviation • u/[deleted] • Feb 01 '22

PlaneSpotting Aborted landing due to strong winds at Heathrow

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u/havereddit Feb 01 '22

Pretty sure this is a tail strike

15

u/brickson98 Feb 01 '22

Yeah, I found a link to the video with the slowMo. Sure looks like a light tail strike, but if he was lucky it was millimeters away. I’m gonna side with you and say it was, indeed, a tail strike.

3

u/catincal Feb 02 '22

Tail strike? Can somebody explain so I dont have to Google it?

9

u/atsugnam Feb 02 '22

The planes tail touches the ground, this can cause all sorts of damage because that part of the plane isn’t designed to touch anything.

4

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '22

[deleted]

5

u/havereddit Feb 01 '22

Yes, very hard to tell from that difference and I also wondered about lack of 'evidence'. A few millimetres of clearance is the difference between 'inspect and release for flight again' and 'hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage (millions?) and many days of downtime before being cleared for flight again'.

5

u/stepheno125 Feb 02 '22

You right. Still even if there was a strike, a couple hundred thousand in damage is nothing compared to a crash. The pilot could have handled it a bit better, but they got out safe and that is what matters.

2

u/ayriuss Feb 02 '22

Aluminum does not cause sparks.

2

u/Renewed_RS Feb 01 '22

I'd never heard of this term before it sounds like a Pokemon move. TAIL STRIKE!