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Atlas / NTSB / CHI87IA163

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event CHI87IA163

1987-06-18 DETROIT, Michigan, United States Airport · DTW None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N515US

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

CZECH SPORT AIRCRAFT A S SPORTCRUISER

Year of manufacture

2011

Engine

ROTAX 912ULS SERIES (100 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20120116

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A675D5

Registrant of record

CENTRAL GROUP LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

A NORTHWEST AIRLINES BOEING 757, OPERATING AS FLIGHT 336, SCRAPED THE TAIL CONE AREA OF THE FUSELAGE ON THE RUNWAY WHEN THE PILOT FAILED TO MAINTAIN SUFFICIENT GROUND CLEARANCE DURING ROTATION AND TAKEOFF FROM DETROIT, MICHIGAN. THE BOEING 757 FLIGHT OPERATION MANUAL STATES THAT 'NORMALLY...APPROXIMATELY 3 DEGREES PER SECOND IS A GOOD ROTATION RATE. ' ON PAGE THREE OF THE FLIGHT DATA RECORDER DATA, UNDER PITCH, IT INDICATES A PITCH CHANGE OF 5.997 DEGREES IN ONE SECOND, AND 4.922 DEGREES IN THE NEXT SECOND. THE FLIGHT OPERATION MANUAL ALSO STATES THAT 'ROTATING AT TOO FAST A RATE FOR EXISTING CONDITIONS AND/OR AN EARLY ROTATION CAN RESULT IN A TAIL STRIKE.' Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1987_CHI87IA163.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.