Brake malfunction probed after Vietnam Airlines 787 tail strike at Munich

A Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787-9 bound for Hanoi suffered a brief but serious loss of acceleration during takeoff from Munich Airport on August 15, 2026, according to preliminary information released by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. The crew of Flight VN34 reported that the aircraft stopped accelerating for roughly two seconds while about halfway down runway 26L. It briefly regained speed, then lost it again just after reaching V1, the takeoff decision speed.

With too little runway left to abort, the pilots pushed the throttles to maximum and continued the takeoff. The aircraft rotated with only about 300 feet of runway remaining, striking its tail before becoming airborne beyond the paved surface.

Photos and video from the airport show long skid marks running toward the end of the runway and beyond it. Those marks, along with the crew's account of an unexplained drop in speed, have raised questions about whether a fault in the aircraft's braking system played a role. The 787 uses electrically actuated wheel brakes rather than a hydraulic system.

No official cause has been confirmed. Investigators say data from the flight data recorder should help clarify what triggered the acceleration anomaly. Germany's Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation has recovered both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the aircraft and taken them to its facility in Braunschweig for analysis.

The flight continued rather than aborting, given how little runway remained when the problem recurred. Authorities have not said whether the aircraft was damaged beyond the tail strike, and they have not indicated when a fuller account of the incident might be released.