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 airport yesterday.
The approach to the runway seemed normal as the plane zoomed closer to the ground.
But after the landing gear touched down, the aircraft’s tail appeared to lean back heavily and scraped onto the tarmac for a split second.
It then bounced back before the rear fin almost made contact with the ground again, before the pilots pulled back up.
The landing was captured on popular Big Jet TV’s live stream with thousands of viewers.
The pilots performed a go-around above the air hub before landing safely on the second attempt.
Passengers screamed when the tail smashed onto the ground, a source told the Sun.
They said: ‘This is most irregular. There were screams. No-one knew what was happening.’
The incident has since been reported to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).
Aviation tracking website Flightradar24 shows how the flight BA431 approached Heathrow shortly after 10.30am.
It then increased altitude sharply again before landing at 10.50am.
Incidents of double tail strikes into the tarmac are not uncommon.
A cargo plane from Leipzig Schkeuditz Airport suffered a tail strike incident when landing at Heathrow on October 12 last year, a new AAIB report reveals.
The cargo plane was damaged beyond repair after its tail bounced on the tarmac, with footage showing a small flame shooting out on contact.
‘Damage included buckling of the skin inwards at the frame, the rivets joining the skin to the frame having separated from the skin, and the
tailskid having sustained abrasion damage,’ the report said.
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