Battling Storm Corrie, the tail of a British Airways A321neo appears to have struck the runway at London Heathrow, forcing an aborted landing and second approach.
British Airways A321neo Tail Strike At LHR
In a video captured by Big Jet TV, the A321neo (registration G-NEOP) can be seen attempting a landing at London Heathrow (LHR) on January 31st. The plane was operating BA1307 from Aberdeen (ABZ) to LHR, having earlier operated to Geneva and back on BA736/737.
Watch as the aircraft attempts to land at LHR:
A321 TOGA and Tail Strike!
A full-on Touch and go, with a tail strike! Watch for the paint dust after contact and watch the empennage shaking as it drags. The pilot deserves a medal! BA training could use this in a scenario – happy to send the footage chaps 😉#aviation #AvGeek pic.twitter.com/ibXjmVJGiT— BIG JET TV (@BigJetTVLIVE) January 31, 2022
Storm Corrie has brought wind gusts of up to 92mph. With the plane rocking back and forth, at one point supported by only the wheels on the left side, the aircraft tail appeared to strike the ground before pilots performed a “touch and go” and quickly re-ascended into the sky.
After the go-around, the plane landed normally. A British Airways spokesperson noted:
“Our pilots are highly trained to manage a range of scenarios, including extreme weather conditions, and our flight crew landed the aircraft safely. Our customers and crew all disembarked as normal.”
Well done, captain.
CONCLUSION
Watch the video closely – this could have been a very bad disaster. Witnesses describe a wind tunnel effect on that area of the runway at LHR and the pilot should be praised for averting calamity by aborting the landing.
image: BIG JET TV
Please update the incorrect title of the post….
There was actually no tail strike 🙂
Sure looks like one to me.
Check out the BAEC Flyertalk and read the thread about it. A lot of info about it including from internal BA staff. It was a suspected tail strike but had an inspection and carried on afterwards. The A321Neo also has a tail strike protection system that should have kicked in 🙂
The plane has been out of service for two days. It was a tail strike.
Been a lot of controversy on this one both arguing for and against the pilots actions and response. It’s all armchair quarterbacking though as none of us were there. But, no doubt, for those passengers on the left side that must have been a pretty exciting moment.
Not quite as dramatic as the Lufthansa one in Hamburg a few years ago. That was some kind of crazy.
Well, I for one wold have needed clean knickers after that attempted landing…. just sayin’ LOL
I’d like to armchair QB at this one but I have no idea what to say.
I hope someone in the cabin hollered out “Whoooaaaa Nellie!” as that was happening.
Gusty conditions require excess airspeed on final approach. It also requires a firm touchdown in order to let ground spoilers, reverse thrust and brakes to do the work on the runway because if you attempt to reduce that excess energy in the air, the aircraft essentially becomes a huge wind vane and is subject to more effects of gusts. The aircraft banked left dramatically and the pilot added too much input with a low energy state causing what is a tail strike. The landing also featured a skip early on (or a bounce) which is a known threat to more chance of tail strike on landing.
I am trying to contact any of the passengers of this flight for an interview if they are willing to participate.
If anyone knows of anyone who was a passenger please pass on my email: ben.perez.amaro@multistory.tv