Hard disk drive adapted to detect free-fall and perform emergency parking of read/write head prior to impact

Embodiments of the invention provide a hard disk drive (HDD) adapted to detect when an HDD is in a free-fall state and park a head prior to impact. The HDD comprises a spindle motor comprising a rotary body and adapted to rotate a disk, wherein the disk is adapted to store data; an actuator adapted to move a read/write head to a desired position above the disk in order to read/write data; and a flying height sensor adapted to measure a flying height of the rotary body in real time. The HDD further comprises a monitor adapted to monitor the measured flying height and generate a free-fall signal when the monitor determines that the HDD is in a free-fall state; and a central controller adapted to initiate an operation for parking the read/write head in response to the free-fall signal.