Event DCA14CA161

Factual narrative

On September 15, 2014, at about 2027 eastern daylight time, American Airlines flight 2404, a B757-200, N654A, experienced a tail strike during landing at Miami International Airport (KMIA), Miami, Florida. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the aft pressure bulkhead and there were no injuries to the 172 passengers and crew onboard. The flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 121 as a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (KSJU), San Juan, Puerto Rico to KMIA. According to the operator, the first officer (FO) was the pilot flying and the captain was the pilot monitoring and was initial operating experience (IOE) training for the FO. The flight crew reported that they had the ILS tuned and the approach was stabilized. They reported that the main gear touchdown was smooth but that the nose came up rapidly before the captain could make the "deployed" call for the spoilers. The captain reportedly quickly grabbed the yoke and lowered the nose to the ground. Postflight maintenance inspection found damage to the aft fuselage skin and substantial damage to the aft pressure bulkhead. On September 15, 2014, at about 2027 eastern daylight time, American Airlines flight 2404, a B757-200, N654A, experienced a tail strike during landing at Miami International Airport (KMIA), Miami, Florida. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the aft pressure bulkhead and there were no injuries to the 172 passengers and crew onboard. The flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 121 as a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (KSJU), San Juan, Puerto Rico to KMIA. According to the operator, the first officer (FO) was the pilot flying and the captain was the pilot monitoring and was initial operating experience (IOE) training for the FO.  The flight crew reported that they had the ILS tuned and the approach was stabilized.  They reported that the main gear touchdown was smooth but that the nose came up rapidly before the captain could make the "deployed" call for the spoilers. The captain reportedly quickly grabbed the yoke and lowered the nose to the ground. Postflight maintenance inspection found damage to the aft fuselage skin and substantial damage to the aft pressure bulkhead. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Incorrect action performance-Copilot - C
• F Personnel issues-Experience/knowledge-Experience/qualifications-Total experience-Copilot - F