NTSB Factual Report

On December 28, 2001, about 0727 Alaska standard time, a Boeing 747-128 airplane, N3203Y, sustained substantial damage as a result of a tail strike during takeoff from the Ted Stevens International Airport, Anchorage, Alaska. The flight was being conducted as an instrument (IFR) cross-country cargo flight under Title 14, CFR Part 121, operated by Evergreen International Airlines, Inc., as Flight 203. There were no injuries to the two pilots, or the one flight engineer aboard. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight plan had been filed. The flight originated about 0712, from the Ted Stevens International Airport, and was en route to Travis Air Force Base (AFB), California.

During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on January 31, the operator's chief pilot reported that after the accident airplane arrived in Anchorage, the airplane was refueled with about 100,000 lbs. of fuel in preparation for the final leg of the flight to Travis AFB. He said that prior to departure, the crew failed to account for the weight of the additional fuel, and inadvertently used the same performance cards that were used for the previous landing. He added that the crew was unaware that the tail had struck the runway until after arrival at Travis AFB.

The airplane's tail sustained substantial damage as a result of the tail strike. The airplane was flown to Marana, Arizona, for repairs.

NTSB Probable Cause

The flight crew's inadequate preflight planning, and failure to calculate the airplane weight and balance prior to departure.