Air carrier departs ewr with undetected damage to tail of aircraft.

Attributes
ACN	266590
Time
Date	199403
Day	Mon
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : ewr
State Reference	NJ
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	Other Other
Flight Phase	ground : parked ground : preflight
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial pilot : cfi pilot : instrument pilot : flight engineer pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 200 flight time total : 8200 flight time type : 600
ASRS Report	266590
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 200 flight time total : 15000 flight time type : 400
ASRS Report	266405
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe non adherence : far
Independent Detector	other other : unspecified
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Aircraft
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation other

Narrative:

An apparent tail scrape found by chicago maintenance on a preflight walkaround. My captain and I had just flown the aircraft from newark. Further investigation proved that the scrape was not a result of an overrotation as first suspected, but from a ground vehicle. The captain did the walkaround preflight in newark. It was daylight but rainy and windy. He did see the metal, but did not consider it to be a tail strike due to the area the metal piece attached -- approximately 10 ft further aft of the area most prone to tail strikes. I flew the flight from newark to chicago. The flight was uneventful within SOP's. Aircraft was inspected and returned back into service 55 mins later.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR DEPARTS EWR WITH UNDETECTED DAMAGE TO TAIL OF ACFT.

Narrative: AN APPARENT TAIL SCRAPE FOUND BY CHICAGO MAINT ON A PREFLT WALKAROUND. MY CAPT AND I HAD JUST FLOWN THE ACFT FROM NEWARK. FURTHER INVESTIGATION PROVED THAT THE SCRAPE WAS NOT A RESULT OF AN OVERROTATION AS FIRST SUSPECTED, BUT FROM A GND VEHICLE. THE CAPT DID THE WALKAROUND PREFLT IN NEWARK. IT WAS DAYLIGHT BUT RAINY AND WINDY. HE DID SEE THE METAL, BUT DID NOT CONSIDER IT TO BE A TAIL STRIKE DUE TO THE AREA THE METAL PIECE ATTACHED -- APPROX 10 FT FURTHER AFT OF THE AREA MOST PRONE TO TAIL STRIKES. I FLEW THE FLT FROM NEWARK TO CHICAGO. THE FLT WAS UNEVENTFUL WITHIN SOP'S. ACFT WAS INSPECTED AND RETURNED BACK INTO SVC 55 MINS LATER.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.