Pilots suspended after tail strike at Auckland

11.45am

Two pilots have been grounded after the tail of a plane carrying 145 passengers hit the runway at Auckland International Airport on takeoff last week.

The tail of the Cathay Pacific Airbus A340-300 hit the runway surface as it took off last week on its way to Hong Kong, the Dominion Post reported today.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was investigating the incident, the paper reported. CAA spokesman Bill Sommer was not immediately available for comment this morning.

The newspaper said cabin crew and passengers felt the plane shudder as the bottom of the tail scraped along the runway. Crew members alerted the pilot, a junior captain and one of the airline's first Chinese pilots to be promoted to captain.

The paper said the captain checked with air traffic controllers in Auckland, who said they had not seen the plane touch the runway. He radioed ahead to Hong Kong for guidance on whether to continue the flight or return to Auckland.

After consultation with a management pilot, the decision was made to continue to Hong Kong because it was not believed the damage was serious, the paper reported.

The incident is the second of its type within 10 months at Auckland Airport. A Singapore Airlines Boeing 747 with 369 passengers aboard made an emergency landing after a tail-strike in March.

Cathay Pacific spokeswoman Lisa Wong said during the takeoff and landing, the aircraft was safe and there was no safety issue.

The paper said the captain and the first officer were suspended from flying while the investigation was carried out.

The Singapore Airlines pilot and first officer were found to be at fault for the 747 tail strike.

The pilot took off at too low a speed and the first officer entered an aircraft weight figure 100 tonnes lighter than it should have been.

The captain was demoted.

Civil Aviation spokesman Bill Sommer said the incident was being investigated by the airline and it would be monitored by the authority.

"That is normal under our rules. If there is an accident or incident the operator is required to investigate it.

"We will monitor it. If we are satisfied we will accept the findings. If not we will take it further."

Mr Sommer said the CAA was not made aware of the incident until the aircraft had landed at Hong Kong and had been inspected.

He said the CAA was not concerned that the aircraft continued to Hong Kong rather than return to Auckland for inspection.

"That is up to the operator. It is not up to us. They will operate in what they believe is a safe manner and if they decide that is a safe manner that is what they will do," Mr Sommer said.

He said aircraft occasionally scraped their tails on runways and some were fitted with a pad to minimise damage.

"They are very long, some of these aircraft. It doesn't happen very often but it has happened," Mr Sommer said.

- NZPA