Posted on 06/04/2026 10:52:24 AM PDT by DFG
A Boeing 787 plane bound for Los Angeles nosedived onto the runway while parked at Frankfurt airport after the landing gear unexpectedly collapsed.
Footage shared on social media shows the moment the nose gear of the plane, which is operated by Lufthansa, gave way.
'Passengers had not yet boarded,' a Lufthansa spokesperson said in an emailed statement, but crew members and ground staff were on board the aircraft at the time of the incident.
'Several staff members were injured and are currently receiving medical treatment,' the company added.
Their condition is not yet known.
Images showed multiple emergency vehicles parked around the two-engine widebody aircraft, which partly lay on its belly.
The incident occurred at 12.45pm local time, and the jet was scheduled to depart for Los Angeles as flight LH450, Lufthansa said.
The flight was due to take off at 1.50pm today, but has been cancelled following the incident, as the jet sustained significant damage, according to local media.
'We are currently investigating the exact circumstances with the relevant authorities,' the company added.
Technicians and support staff are already on staff, according to local reports.
It was not immediately clear whether the incident was the result of human error or a possible technical defect.
The 787, of which Lufthansa operates the 787-9 variant, is a relatively new addition for the group, which is planning to gradually phase out less efficient jets and simplify its fleet.
A spokesperson for Frankfurt Airport told The Daily Mail: 'We can confirm that there was an incident at Frankfurt Airport involving a Lufthansa Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner at 12.45pm today.
'The exact circumstances are currently being investigated by the relevant authorities.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
“Okay so the button works....”
The only possibility would be that the nose gear was never locked in the down position from the prior landing and the moment a tug attempted a push back, it collapsed.
I included a link in Post 9 about a similar incident from 2021, which was determined to be caused by faulty installation of pins when attempting to clear error messages associated with the nose landing gear doors. When the switch was cycled, the landing gear raised and the nose dropped.
There is no tug in the photos of either event.
https://simpleflying.com/british-airways-nose-gear-collapse-aaib-report/
"...the aircraft was producing three fault messages associated with the Nose Landing Gear doors... the Dispatch Deviation Guide asked the maintenance personnel to cycle the Nose Landing Gear selection level with hydraulic power applied to the aircraft. The procedure required downlock pins inserted in the nose and the main landing gear locks to prevent the landing gear from retracting during the cycling process... According to the Air Accident Investigation Branch, the Nose Landing Gear downlock pin was incorrectly inserted in the downlock link assembly apex pin bore instead of the downlock pin hole. Due to this incorrect insertion, the Nose Landing Gear retracted when the lead engineer pushed the lever up. As an unfortunate result, the nose of G-ZBJB struck the ground..."
Better to happen while the aircraft was stationary than when coming in for a landing.
True. It will be interesting to see if the corrections were done, and if so, if the pin was properly inserted.
Or, if the corrections weren't done, if the pin was installed in the wrong hole, and whether the maintenance technician was trained for the task.
It sounds like straight up Murphy's Law: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." If they don't engineer out the potential for error, the error will occur.
“Any landing you can walk away from...”
Landing? They had not yet even boarded.
“A Boeing 787 plane bound for Los Angeles nosedived onto the runway while parked at Frankfurt airport after the landing gear unexpectedly collapsed.” Are they designed to do that?
I remember the first test flight when I still worked at Boeing. A bunch of us in the giant integration lab were watching it on a monitor and people were tense. I quietly said to a coworker, “I’m not worried about whether it will take off, I’m worried about whether it will stop. (name redacted) worked on the braking software.”
If he’d been drinking coffee, he would have choked on it.
Low IQ immigrants.
Low IQ immigrants.
Low IQ immigrants.
Looks like even the left main gave way.
All hydraulics I have ever used eventually bleed off, some are veeeery slow, and need to be protected by locks to sustain position.
I guess there is a perfect seal somewhere but I have never seen it in an elastomer. Metal to metal yes, multiple stack PBR usually and amazing they do.
Can you imagine the mess if someone’s head was in the way while entering at the same time the collapse.
“Cleanup isle 1 to 8”
Mustard on it. Yes, ketchup is a “sin” on a hot dog in shitcago. Don’t do it at Wrigley Field! Gov JB Creosote would polish off any and everything put in front of him...the glutinous prick that he is.
Avoided a real catastrophe there.
I was a little surprised that people weren’t more exercised about this. Ground crew were walking around the plane when this happened. If one of them had happened to be under the front of the plane at that time, he’d be dead.
The left wing drop was secondary, likely from the plane lurching forward and the mains being chockd. In this 13 second video clip, you can see the nose gear fold forward as though unpinned, and not a hydraulic leak.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQDoQOMqY2Q
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.