Despite the emphasis on reducing failures, they do occasionally occur, most often due to hard landings and tailstrikes, or foreign object damage. Though the tail rotor is considered essential for safe flight, the loss of tail rotor function does not necessarily result in a fatal crash. In cases where the failure occurs due to contact with the ground, the aircraft is already at low altitude and the pilot may be able to reduce collective and land the helicopter before it spins completely out of control. Should the tail rotor fail randomly during cruise flight, forward momentum will often provide some directional stability, as many helicopters are equipped with a vertical stabilizer. The pilot would then be forced to autorotate and make an emergency landing with significant forward airspeed, which is known as a "running landing" or "roll-on landing".