Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hartsfield/Jackson Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Atlanta, Georgia 30337
Thursday, March 7, 2013 19:21 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On March 7, 2013, at 19:21 Eastern Standard Time, a Boeing 757-200, registration N698DL, operated by Delta Air Lines as flight 1693 from Orange County Airport, Santa Ana, California (KSNA) to the Hartsfield Jackson International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia (KATL), experienced a tailstrike while landing on runway 28. The aircraft was substantially damaged, and there were no injuries to the 2 flight crew, 4 flight attendants, or 142 passengers. Weather at the time of the event was reported as winds from 340 degrees at 6 knots, clear skies and 10 miles visibility.
According to the flight crew, the preflight, departure and enroute segments of the flight were normal. The approach was flown with a Vref speed of 129 knots and 25 degrees of flap. Upon landing, the first officer called "speedbrakes not activated" and manually deployed the speedbrakes. The captain reported he felt the airplane "float" and attempted to maintain landing attitude. FDR data indicated that the airplane made an initial touchdown, followed by a brief gear squat switch deactivation, consistent with a slight bounce or light touchdown; the speedbrakes were then manually deployed. Airspeed decayed to approximately 115 knots and pitch attitude increased to about 11 degrees. The Delta 757/767 Flight Crew Training Manual specifies that contact with the runway is possible with pitch attitude greater than 10.5 degrees, with flaps 25 and airspeed of 10 knots below Vref.
The airplane rolled out and taxied to the gate uneventfully. While preparing the aircraft for the next flight the flight crew was informed by maintenance personnel of damage to the tail section of the aircraft. Aircraft inspection revealed an 8 foot scrape on the lower aft fuselage, damage to several stringers and buckling of the aft pressurization dome.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain correct airspeed and pitch attitude at touchdown.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/7/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1921 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Atlanta |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30337 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 333812N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0842540W |
| Event Location Airport | Hartsfield/Jackson |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KATL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1026 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 152 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KATL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1026 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.23 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 6 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32398 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Delta |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 8 2013 3:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sedj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N698DL |
| NTSB Number | DCA13CA065 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BOEING |
| Aircraft Model | 757-232 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 29911 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 241000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 5 |
| Passenger Seats | 184 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 191 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 12 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 46669 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DELTA AIR LINES INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | HARTSFIELD ATLANTA INT'L ARPT |
| Aircraft Owner City | ATLANTA |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30320 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | DELTA AIR LINES INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Atlanta |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | DALA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KSNA |
| Departure City | Santa Ana |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1235 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | KATL |
| Destination City | Atlanta |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 8 2013 3:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sedj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 28 |
| Runway Length | 9000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |