American 737 MAX 8 Tail-Strikes Santa Ana Runway During Low Go-Around

An American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 struck its tail on runway 20R at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana on 29 October 2026, during a go-around initiated at very low height — and was back in service roughly 14 hours later.

The aircraft, registered N335SN, was operating flight AA806 from Dallas Fort Worth to Santa Ana. According to The Aviation Herald, the jet was on short final for runway 20R when the crew elected to go around. The Federal Aviation Administration has logged the event and confirmed the tail strike in a brief report, though it gives no cause. Why the crew abandoned the approach so close to the runway remains unclear.

The tail contacted the pavement during the transition. The crew continued the climb to 3,000 feet, repositioned, and landed on a second approach to 20R without further incident about 13 minutes after the strike.

Why the runway matters

Runway 20R is John Wayne's main strip, and it measures just 5,700 feet, per SkyVector. That puts it among the shortest runways in regular US airline service. Santa Ana's tight margins compress the window a crew has to fix an unstable approach; a decision to go around tends to come late and low.

Why low go-arounds risk the tail

The physics are unforgiving. When pilots add thrust and raise the nose, the aircraft can keep sinking briefly before the climb develops. If the main wheels are within feet of the pavement at that moment, the tail can touch down first. The 737 MAX 8's length makes it no stranger to tail strikes in these conditions — a low go-around concentrates exactly the pitch attitude, sink rate and thrust combination that erodes tail clearance.

What is known about N335SN

The airframe's history is documented by Planespotters.net:

• Boeing 737 MAX 8, manufacturer serial number 44481, line number 7783
• Built at the Renton factory, where it flew under three test registrations: N1786B, N1800B and N1787B
• Around seven years old, but only joined American Airlines in January 2021
• Ferried from Boeing Field to Tulsa on 27 January 2021
• Fleet number 3SN; cabin seats 172 passengers — 16 in first class, 156 in economy
• Powered by two CFM International LEAP-1B engines

Damage assessment and return to service

The quick turnaround tells its own story. The Aviation Herald reports the jet returned to service about 14 hours after landing at Santa Ana, which suggests engineers found no significant structural damage during their inspection. Tail strikes can trigger anything from a scraped skid plate to major pressure-section repairs; a same-day release indicates this one sat at the shallow end of that scale.

Neither the FAA nor American Airlines has released further detail on the crew's decision-making, the height at which the go-around began, or the inspection findings. Flightradar24 carries the full track of the flight for readers who want to replay the approach and the second circuit.

The FAA's incident record, once completed, should establish whether the tail strike traces to the go-around technique, the approach instability that prompted it, or the runway's short margins — and whether any follow-up action follows for operations into Santa Ana.