Passengers describe Boeing 787 runway incident at Munich Airport

Passengers have described how a Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787 failed to take off normally at Munich Airport and later made an emergency landing, BR reported. All 271 passengers and 16 crew members remained uninjured.

Videos circulating on social media show the aircraft leaving the 4,000-metre runway and taking off from the grass beyond it, throwing up dust. A preliminary report by Vietnam’s aviation authority, CAAV, says the crew noticed problems while accelerating.

Passenger Matthias Hauser said the aircraft appeared to be travelling too slowly. According to the report, the plane stopped gaining speed for about two seconds roughly halfway along the runway. It then reached the required speed before slowing again.

Hauser said the aircraft crossed the end of the runway during takeoff and that passengers heard a heavy impact. With too little runway remaining to stop safely, the pilot continued the takeoff, applying maximum engine thrust and raising the nose of the aircraft.

After taking off from the grass, the crew received warnings indicating that the tail may have struck the ground, a so-called tail strike. The aircraft also showed low tyre pressure in four of its eight tyres. The crew alerted air traffic control and decided to return to Munich Airport.

Passenger Benjamin Beck said the announcement that the aircraft would turn back caused panic. Another passenger told BR that she was terrified and wanted only to land safely.

Before landing, the aircraft remained in the air for about two hours while it released fuel to reduce its weight. According to the CAAV report, the pilots flew two low-level circuits over the airport so air traffic control could assess the landing gear. No abnormalities were detected during the circuits, and the aircraft landed. Four tyres were later found to have burst, three on the left side of the landing gear and one on the right.

Passengers were evacuated using a fire service staircase and initially could not access their luggage. Germany’s Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation secured the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder in Braunschweig. A preliminary report could take several weeks.

Hauser and Beck still plan to fly, but have booked another airline. They have since received their luggage.