Posted on 08/20/2026 8:42:00 AM PDT by DFG
A passenger plane carrying nearly 300 people struck its tail as it took off from Munich airport in an incident that was described as a 'near disaster'.
Footage showed the tumultuous departure of the Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787 on Saturday.
A cloud of dust was thrown into the air as the tail hit the ground. Inside the cabin, a loud scraping noise was heard as the plane, which was carrying 271 passengers and 16 crew, lifted off the runway.
The 250-ton plane skidded across grass, hit light posts and soared towards trees as the crew – made up of three pilots and one less experienced first officer – desperately pulled its nose up into the air.
No one onboard the Hanoi-bound plane was hurt, but aviation experts said the episode could have ended in disaster.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), the pilots reported that the aircraft, whose registration is VN-A867, stopped accelerating for about two seconds while halfway down Munich Airport's 26L runway.
AeroTime, an aviation news organisation, reported that the 787 then began accelerating again, reaching V1 – the maximum speed during take off where a pilot can safely abort and stop a plane on the runway.
But with too little runway left, the pilots continued to accelerate. The pilots only had about 300ft of runway when they lifted the plane's nose to fly into the sky.
Photos and videos show long skid marks towards the end of the runway, indicating there may have been some late braking. So far, officials have not yet determined that a crew or brake malfunction happened.
But Germany's Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation said that the tyre marks were linked to the Boeing aircraft.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.com ...
I got lucky. I’ve worked with that stuff before.
Could have been much worse. Everyone could have caught COVID AND been in a plane crash.
So much goodness in that. I chuckle at the remembrance.
Boeing engineers union rejects contract offer, setting stage for possible strike
Junk in da trunk
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