Unintentional go-around switch activation triggered ANA 787-9 tail-strike in Houston, NTSB finds

A tail-strike involving an All Nippon Airways Boeing 787-9 at Houston earlier this year was caused by the captain inadvertently pressing the take-off/go-around (TOGA) switch during landing, according to findings by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the US accident investigation agency.

The aircraft, registered JA873A, was arriving from Tokyo Haneda on 27 February. With fog at the airport, the crew flew a Category III approach — a low-visibility procedure using autoland — to runway 26L. The captain was the flying pilot and told investigators his attention remained fixed on the head-up display throughout the low-visibility approach.

He recalled verifying that the thrust levers were at idle and the speedbrakes had deployed after touchdown. But as he reached for the thrust-reversers, the nose began pitching up on its own. When he glanced at the primary flight display, the pitch attitude had already reached 7.5°.

Flight data indicates the autopilot and autothrottle were in flare mode at touchdown, and that the TOGA switch was activated roughly half a second after landing. The autothrottle transitioned to go-around mode, though this was cancelled when reverse thrust was selected; the autopilot pitch mode, however, commanded a go-around pitch target. The nose-up attitude climbed from 3.5° to 7.4° over about two seconds.

Roughly five seconds after the mode change, the captain pushed the control column forward with both hands, allowing the force of the push itself to disengage the autopilot. He then pulled back on the column to soften the nose-gear touchdown. The pitch attitude peaked at 7.9° — enough for the tail to contact the runway.

The aircraft’s tail-strike protection system did activate, but the NTSB noted its limited authority was insufficient to arrest the pitch increase. Boeing told investigators the conditions that normally inhibit TOGA activation had not yet been met when the switch was pressed. The captain, a veteran of multiple aircraft types, said he had no conscious recollection of touching the switch and had never before activated it accidentally.

The NTSB concluded there was no evidence of an autopilot malfunction and determined the captain most likely pressed the switch as he moved his hand toward the thrust-reversers. The jet sustained substantial damage to the underside of its aft fuselage, though all 197 passengers and 12 crew members were uninjured.

Safety events such as this one are closely followed across the aerospace sector, including diversified industrials with defence exposure such as National Presto Industries (NPK), which trades at $144.01, down 1.72% from a previous close of $146.52, with a market capitalisation of roughly $1.06 billion.

What to watch

• Publication of the NTSB’s final report, which may include recommendations on switch placement or TOGA inhibition logic
• Any Boeing responses regarding take-off/go-around switch design or operating procedures
• Whether regulators or operators issue fleet-wide guidance on low-visibility landing procedures

Source: original release