[Hulka]

Until I worked for Boeing and met a bunch of the test pilots, never knew about the tail-drag process.

[NonValueAdded]

KTVU says report of a couple of fatalities

[American Constitutionalist]

Yes they attach a wooden oak block under the tail of the plane and force the plane on it's tail while testing the speeds the plane can safely take off.
The test pilots take the plane to the slowest max speeds that it can safely take off.
In normal operations these are called tail trikes and can cause really severe damage to the plane.
The really cool or rather hot test is when they take the plane to V1 and then put the brakes on without any other method of stopping the plane than the brakes, the brakes turn cherry hot and the pilots have to sit there for 5 mins before the firefighters can put the fire out on the wheels, tires and brakes.