Upon landing; during flare; a first officer reported his seat back failed rearward; resulting in a s...

Narrative:

Upon landing; during the flare; my seat back failed rearward; resulting in a sudden pitch up movement and subsequent strike on the tailskid. My captain immediately assumed control and completed the landing. After parking; a visual inspection of the skid plate found scratches on the bottom of the pad; however no damage or paint was missing on the tailskid index angles. Recommendation would be to set a time/cycle limit for all flight deck seat lock and seat back lock mechanisms. As it appears; the extensive wear of seat back lock mechanisms could result in the potential for loss of control during critical phases of flight in the future.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Upon landing; during flare; a First Officer reported his seat back failed rearward; resulting in a sudden pitch-up movement and subsequent strike of the tailskid on their ATR-72-200 aircraft. The Captain immediately assumed control and completed the landing.

Narrative: Upon landing; during the flare; my seat back failed rearward; resulting in a sudden pitch up movement and subsequent strike on the tailskid. My Captain immediately assumed control and completed the landing. After parking; a visual inspection of the skid plate found scratches on the bottom of the pad; however no damage or paint was missing on the tailskid index angles. Recommendation would be to set a time/cycle limit for all flight deck seat lock and seat back lock mechanisms. As it appears; the extensive wear of seat back lock mechanisms could result in the potential for loss of control during critical phases of flight in the future.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	837266
Time
Date	200903
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	ATR 72
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Landing
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Pilot Seat
Person 1
Function	First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

Upon landing; during flare; a first officer reported his seat back failed rearward; resulting in a sudden pitch-up movement and subsequent strike of the tailskid on their ATR-72-200 aircraft. The captain immediately assumed control and completed the landing.