British Airways flight suffers tail strike during Heathrow landing

Summarised from 4 outlets · Updated 13 Nov, 21:14 · Archive

A British Airways flight from Amsterdam aborted its landing at Heathrow after its tail struck the runway, then landed safely on a second attempt.

British Airways Flight BA431 from Amsterdam experienced a double tail strike—where the rear of the aircraft scrapes along the runway surface—during its landing attempt at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 on Thursday morning at around 10.30am. The Airbus A321neo's left wheel touched down first, but as the right wheel made contact with the tarmac, the plane's tail scraped along the surface. The pilots then performed a go-around, climbing back into the air before successfully landing at 10.49am.

Footage captured by aircraft tracking enthusiasts showed the aircraft swaying from side to side as it approached the runway. The New York Post reports that approximately 220 passengers were on board. According to reports from The Sun, passengers screamed and lurched forward in their seats as the incident unfolded. A source on the plane told The Sun: 'This is most irregular. There were screams. No-one knew what was happening.'

The source added that the plane was buffeted by high winds, though pilots normally have such scenarios under control. Heathrow's weather forecast for Thursday morning showed northwest winds with gusts of around 16 kilometres per hour. The New York Post reports that early investigations pointed to a possible misjudgment in the cockpit.

The aircraft was taken out of service for engineering checks after the safe landing. The incident has been reported to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, which investigates civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents within the UK. British Airways has launched its own investigation into what occurred. Metro reports that double tail strikes are not uncommon in aviation.

How it is being reported

• Plane makes terrifying landing at Heathrow Airport as screaming passengers heard from insideA packed British Airways jet was involved in a terrifying landing scare during its touchdown at Heathrow Airport.New York Post · 13 Nov, 18:40
• Passengers on BA flight ‘scream after plane tail strikes runway’The aircraft’s tail made contact with the tarmac during a bumpy landing at Heathrow (Picture: X/@BigJetTVLIVE) Passengers on board a British Airways flight experienced a bumpy landing at Heathrow Airport. The packed Airbus A321neo from Amsterdam made a dramatic landing attempt at the UK’s busiest…Metro · 13 Nov, 14:58
• British Airways passengers scream in horror during terrifying landing at Heathrow AirportThe landing scare was captured by a nearby plane spotter as the tail of a British Airways plane crashed into the runway before taking off into the air againThe Mirror · 13 Nov, 05:29
• Moment British Airways flight suffers double tail strike in aborted landing at Heathrow AirportFlight BA431 (pictured) suffered a double tail strike, when the rear of an aircraft scapes along the runway surface, on Thursday as it attempted to land following a flight from Amsterdam.Daily Mail · 12 Nov, 18:34

In this story: British Airways · Flight BA431 · Heathrow Airport · Amsterdam · London · Air Accidents Investigation Branch

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log