Tailstrike Serious incident Airbus A321-271NX XA-VSC, Saturday 5 August 2023
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Date:Saturday 5 August 2023
Time:11:53
Type:Silhouette image of generic A21N model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Airbus A321-271NX
Owner/operator:Volaris
Registration: XA-VSC
MSN: 10789
Year of manufacture:2022
Engine model:Pratt & Whitney PW1133G-JM
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 223
Other fatalities:0
Aircraft damage: Substantial, repaired
Category:Serious incident
Location:Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport (GLD/MMGL) -   Mexico
Phase: Landing
Nature:Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:Tijuana-Rodriguez Airport (TIJ/MMTJ)
Destination airport:Guadalajara-Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport (GDL/MMGL)
Investigating agency: DAAIA Mexico
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
Volaris flight Y4488, an Airbus A321-271NX, XA-VSC, sustained substantial damage when it suffered a tailstrike on landing at Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport (GLD/MMGL), Guadalajara, Mexico.
There were no injuries.

According to the captain, "We were on an ILS approach. The first officer was flying the aircraft, the approach was carried out in a normal way. On short final an instability started, the first officer decelerated the aircraft completely, the aircraft went down, I didn't have time to correct, a strong impact was felt. When we arrived at the apron, we were informed that a tail strike had occurred, a report was recorded in the logbook and the company and authorities were informed."


Probable cause:
Tail strike of the aircraft due to errors in flare technique, thrust adjustment, and simultaneous inputs on the sidestick, leading to a sink and resulting in a hard landing, without anticipating the go-around.

Contributing factors
- Failure to maintain nose-up attitude (between 110 ft RA and 60 ft RA) to prevent the rate of descent from decreasing (to 50 ft RA)
- Failure to maintain CAS speed using self-thrust
- Failure to comply with FCTM PR-NP-SOP-260
- Failure to comply with FCTM AOP-1O-30-20 USE OF SIDESTICK
- Failure to comply with FCTM PR-NP-SOP-250 AVOIDANCE OF TAIL GRIPS

Accident investigation:
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Investigating agency: DAAIA Mexico
Report number: INCIDGDTAFA131/2023 MMGL
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year
Download report: Final report

Sources:

CIDAIA Mexico
https://bea.aero/en/investigation-reports/notified-events/detail/serious-incident-to-the-airbus-a321-registered-xa-vsc-operated-by-volaris-on-05-08-2023-at-guadalajara/
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/xa-vsc#31749bef

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
09-Aug-2023 18:36 Captain Adam Added
09-Aug-2023 18:36 Captain Adam Updated
17-Nov-2023 10:52 harro Updated [Other fatalities, Source, ]
22-Aug-2024 10:13 ASN Updated
23-Aug-2024 07:32 ASN Updated [Accident report, ]
23-Aug-2024 10:20 ASN Updated [Accident report, ]

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

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