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A robust fault-tolerant control scheme is proposed for uncertain nonlinear systems with zero dynamics, affected by actuator faults and lock-in-place and float failures. The proposed controller utilizes an adaptive second-order sliding mode strategy integrated with the backstepping procedure, retaining the benefits of both the methodologies. A Lyapunov stability analysis has been conducted, which unfolds the advantages offered by the proposed methodology in the presence of inherent modeling errors and strong eventualities of faults and failures. Two modified adaptive laws have been formulated, to approximate the bounds of uncertainties due to modeling and to estimate the fault-induced parametric uncertainties. The proposed scheme ensures robustness towards linearly parameterized mismatched uncertainties, in addition to parametric and nonparametric matched perturbations. The proposed controller has been shown to yield an improved post-fault transient performance without any additional expense in the control energy spent. The proposed scheme is applied to the pitch control problem of a nonlinear longitudinal model of Boeing 747-100/200 aircraft. Simulation results support theoretical propositions and confirm that the proposed controller produces superior post-fault transient performance compared with already existing approaches designed for similar applications. Besides, the asymptotic stability of the overall controlled system is also established in the event of such faults and failures. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]