A disk drive is disclosed employing a constant contact inertial latch for latching an actuator arm assembly while the disk drive is powered down to protect against physical shocks. The inertial latch comprises a body having a protruding arm and a pivot surface. When the actuator arm assembly is in the latched position, the protruding arm is in constant contact with the actuator arm assembly applying a latching force to the actuator arm assembly. During a physical shock, an inertia of the body biases the body rotationally about the pivot surface in a first direction to increase the latching force applied to the actuator arm assembly by the protruding