- Date
- August 8, 2019, 13:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Orlando, FL
- Injuries
- 232 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N717FRAirbus A321
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Tailstrike
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- Parties
- FAA PAI Denver, ALPA, Frontier Director of Safety and Security, Airbus - Technical Advisor to BEA, EASA - Technical Advisor to BEA, BEA Accredited Representatie
- FAA report
- 20190808023679A
- Case key
- 100023
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Encountering gusty conditions at a low altitude during landing and the crew’s decision to do a go-around at a low altitude with an excessive rotation rate.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The final approach was considered stabilized. At about 40 feet above ground level, a significant tailwind gust of about 25 knots was experienced, creating a loss of airspeed. The loss of airspeed resulted in a loss of lift at a low height and led to a hard touchdown. At about 10 feet above the runway (and before the hard touchdown) the flight crew set “TOGA” thrust for go-around and applied full back stick pressure resulting in a pitch increase to +9.2 degrees. The engines required time to spool up and the airplane lost altitude before it started to climb. The increase in pitch and delay in thrust caused the tailstrike, resulting in substantial damage to the airplane. The airplane was fitted with a tailstrike prevention option which appears on the primary flight director (PFD) when below 400 feet but deactivates when thrust levers are pushed to “TOGA”. Standard operating procedures for go-arounds near the ground inform flight crews to avoid an excessive rotation rate to prevent tailstrikes.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N717FR
- Reported as
- Airbus A321 (211)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7536
- Built
- 2017
- Airframe hours
- 9,504
- Engines
- Cfm Intl CFM56-5B3/3GE CFM56-5B3/3B1, turbo fanCfm Intl CFM56-5B3/3GE CFM56-5B3/3B1, turbo fan
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Frontier Airlines
- Registered owner
- Wells Fargo Trust Co Na Trustee
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Last inspection
- August 5, 2019
- Departed
- PMW · Portland, ME
- Destination
- MCO · Orlando, FL
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- MCO · Orlando International Airport, runway 18L, 12,005 × 200 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Onboard weather, Satellite tracking device, Stall warning system, ADS-B, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Data recorder, Angle of attack indicator
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 51
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1
- Last flight review
- April 26, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 10,854 total · 10,854 in this make and model · 2,047 as pilot in command · 103 in the last 90 days · 19 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Co-pilot
- Age
- 45
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1
- Last flight review
- September 9, 2017
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 1,897 total · 1,897 in this make and model · 0 as pilot in command · 191 in the last 90 days · 85 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 77 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.