American Airlines Boeing 737 Suffers Tail Strike After Landing in Chicago
An American Airlines Boeing 737-800 experienced a tail strike after attempting to land at Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD). The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the incident, noting that none of the 108 occupants were injured.
According to the FAA, the aircraft, registered as N916AN, was operating flight AA2715 from West Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) to Chicago O'Hare. The initial approach was made at around 17:58 local time on runway 28C/10C, where the aircraft reached its lowest altitude of 900 feet before climbing again. The flight data from Flightradar24 indicates that the aircraft circled south of ORD and climbed to over 5,200 feet before making a second landing attempt.
During the first landing attempt, the Boeing 737-800 suffered a tail strike at approximately 18:00. Despite this, the aircraft landed successfully on runway 27C/9C at 18:16 and taxied to the gate without further issues. The FAA's Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) system recorded the tail strike incident.
Onboard the aircraft were 100 passengers, six cabin crew members, and two pilots. The incident occurred under windy conditions, with the Meteorological Aerodrome Report (METAR) indicating wind speeds up to 20 knots and gusts up to 28 knots. The METAR was published at 17:51.
The aircraft involved, N916AN, is a 24-year-old Boeing 737-800, delivered to American Airlines on August 6, 1999. It has accumulated 65,184 flight hours and 26,794 flight cycles. Despite its age, the aircraft remains active, with its next scheduled flight being from ORD to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) on June 9, under flight AA2896.
American Airlines has commended the pilots for their swift actions during the incident and is currently investigating the cause of the tail strike. The aircraft has been temporarily removed from service for inspection and maintenance.
