Lufthansa 747-8 aborts Los Angeles landing, comes close to tail strike

A Lufthansa Boeing 747-8 flying from Frankfurt to Los Angeles aborted its first landing attempt on Saturday, 10 October, according to footage and flight-tracking data. The aircraft, registered D-ABYK, broke off its approach to runway 24R and performed a go-around. It landed safely about 15 minutes later.

Video shows the main landing gear briefly touching the runway on the first attempt before the crew pitched the nose up sharply. The tail came close to the surface without making contact, so there was no tail strike. The sequence was captured by a livestream camera operated by the channel Airline Videos.

Lufthansa confirmed the go-around, telling a portal that flight LH456 had broken off its approach and landed normally and safely on the second try, and that safety always has top priority at the airline. It did not say why the pilots discontinued the first approach.

A go-around involves the crew abandoning the landing approach, applying full thrust, climbing, and retracting the landing gear and flaps, then following a procedure set for each runway to fly a new approach. The manoeuvre is routine for flight crews. For passengers on board, the outcome was mainly a delay.