Tailstrike Accident Bombardier DHC-8-402Q Dash 8 HL5254, Thursday 31 August 2006

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Date:	Thursday 31 August 2006
Time:	18:46
Type:	Bombardier DHC-8-402Q Dash 8
Owner/operator:	Jeju Air
Registration:	HL5254
MSN:	4129
Year of manufacture:	2006
Engine model:	P&W Canada PW150
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 78
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Substantial, repaired
Category:	Accident
Location:	Busan-Gimhae (Pusan) International Airport (PUS/RKPK) - South Korea
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Jeju (Cheju) International Airport (CJU/RKPC)
Destination airport:	Busan-Gimhae (Pusan) International Airport (PUS/RKPK)
Investigating agency:	ARAIB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
Jeju Air flight 502, a DHC-8-402 aircraft operating from Jeju to Busan, experienced a tailstrike during landing on runway 36L at Gimhae International Airport. The rear fuselage contacted the runway, resulting in a structural crack accompanied by a skin scrape on the underside of the aft cargo compartment.

Findings Related to Probable Causes
- The captain did not effectively use aircraft attitude and thrust to maintain the appropriate approach speed and rate of descent.
- The first officer failed to appropriately provide deviation callouts to the captain according to standardized communication procedures.
- Although the aircraft deviated from the stabilized approach criteria, the captain did not initiate a go-around.

Findings Related to Risk
- The flight crew of Flight 502 fell below the generally expected level of Crew Resource Management (CRM) performance.
- Jeju Air did not proactively obtain information regarding the captain's simulator training skills or qualifications and assigned him to operational flight experience training, thereby missing the opportunity to improve his proficiency.
- Jeju Air held its first instructor meeting to establish company flight technical standards only after the occurrence of the Flight 502 accident, three months after the company's founding, and decided on landing approach speeds without sufficient review by experts.
- The Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) program was not functioning properly due to the responsible staff’s lack of awareness and excessive flight workloads.
- There was no standardized operational concept regarding landing reference speed (Vref) at Jeju Air, resulting in different understandings among flight crew members.
- Jeju Air's flight crew selection standards determined ranking but did not present a clear threshold for candidates who should not be selected.

Accident investigation: