Middle East Airlines Flight 304

Middle East Airlines Flight 304 was a scheduled passenger flight from Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport to Cairo International Airport by Middle East Airlines. On 16 November, 2001, the Airbus A321-200 suffered a tailstrike while landing at Cairo International Airport. No one was injured and the damage by the tailstrike was repaired within 3 months. This airframe was later operated by several other airlines such as Onur Air, Saudia, Cham Wings Airlines and most notably, Metrojet, where this airframe would be later destroyed in the Flight 9268 accident.
Aircraft
The aircraft was an Airbus A321-200 built for Middle East Airlines. Delivered new to the airline in May 1997, Middle East Airlines operated the aircraft for 5 years before it having a continuous lease exchange between Onur Air and Saudia. Between the lease exchange, Cham Wings Airlines also operated the aircraft. It was delivered to Kogalymavia in March 2012 (which was later rebranded to Metrojet) with the new registration of EI-ETJ. The airframe was destroyed after Metrojet Flight 9268 over Egypt in October 2015.<ref name=":1" />
Flight
Flight ME304 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Lebanon to Egypt. While approaching Cairo International Airport at 200m, the aircraft unexpectedly pitched up, causing the pilots to apply nose down pitch from their control columns. At 100m, the aircraft unexpectedly pitched down, causing the pilots to apply nose up pitch. Flight 304 then suffered a tailstrike due to the extreme position it was at. Neither the crew, nor the passengers were injured. However, the tailstrike damage was severe. Within 3 months, the tailstrike damage was repaired.<ref name=":0" />

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