A British Airways jet carrying up to 220 passengers was forced to abandon its landing at Heathrow after its tail struck the runway, climbing back into the air before touching down safely on a second attempt.
Flight BA431, an Airbus A321neo from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, was coming in to land at around 11am on Wednesday, 12 November, when the tail of the aircraft made contact with the runway in high winds.
The pilots aborted the landing and performed a go-around, bringing the aircraft in again. It landed safely on the second attempt after a flight of one hour and 35 minutes.
Up to 220 passengers were on board, according to sources, and screams were heard in the cabin as the aircraft hit the tarmac. Passengers lurched forward in their seats as the pilots struggled to control the aircraft.
The landing was captured on video by a plane-spotter nearby.
A source told The Sun: “This is most irregular. There were screams. No-one knew what was happening.
“This near-crash is very rare. The plane was buffeted by high winds, but usually the pilots have this scenario under control.
“An investigation will get to the bottom of what happened.”
Insiders told The Sun that early indications pointed to a “misjudgement” in the cockpit, though no formal finding has been made.
A tail strike happens when the rear underside of an aircraft makes contact with the runway, usually during take-off rotation or the final moments of landing. Even a brief scrape can damage the rear fuselage and the pressure bulkhead, which is why aircraft involved are taken out of service for a full engineering inspection before they fly again.
That is what happened here. The jet was taken out of service for engineering checks after it landed, and the incident was reported to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, which investigates civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents within the UK.
British Airways said it was unable to provide details for “legal reasons”.
A British Airways spokesperson said: “The aircraft landed safely and we’re assisting the AAIB with its investigation and are legally unable to comment further at this stage.”
The AAIB will now examine the circumstances of the landing, including the flight data, the weather conditions at the time and the crew’s actions, before deciding what, if anything, needs to change.
It is not the first time a British Airways aircraft has made headlines at Heathrow this week. A passenger is suing the airline for £50,000 after suffering broken bones at the airport. Heathrow has also seen disruption from a bomb threat at Calais-Fréthun that delayed Eurostar services into London.
