British Airways Plane's Tail Hits Heathrow Runway Twice During Landing; Terrifying Video Goes Viral | WATCH
Synopsis
A British Airways flight from Amsterdam experienced a harrowing landing attempt at Heathrow Airport, appearing to suffer a double tail strike on the runway. The pilots quickly executed an emergency go-around, and dramatic live footage of the incident has since gone viral.
A British Airways plane seemed to scrape its tail on the runway during a harrowing landing attempt at London's Heathrow Airport before taking off again, leaving aviation fans in shock. A live video feed captures the dramatic scene in which the pilots abandon the landing and execute a go-around, an emergency maneuver.
British Airways aircraft BA431, which was on its way from Amsterdam to London on Thursday, was engaged in the incident. According to a Daily Mail report, the landing attempt failed at around 10.30 am as the Airbus A321neo approached Terminal 5 at Heathrow.
The airplane can be seen shaking from side to side as it dropped near the runway in the incident footage. The right landing wheel made contact with the ground after the left. Shortly after, what is referred to be a double tail strike occurred when the aircraft's rear part seemed to hit the runway surface twice.
The pilots then abandoned the landing and climbed back into the air. The aircraft appeared to lean slightly to the left as it gained altitude and moved away from the runway.
The footage was captured by aviation livestreaming channel BigJet TV, which shared the clip on X (formerly Twitter). The clip also went massively viral on social media, with the tweet garnering over 5 million views and scaring the internet.
Watch Video
Caught live on our 24/7 Camera BA431 encountered a double tail strike upon landing at Heathrow Airport this morning. What happened here? #aviation #avgeek https://t.co/NRUY3r9GfL
— BIG JET TV (@BigJetTVLIVE) November 12, 2026
According to Daily Mail, the aircraft's landing attempt took place amid north-westerly winds at Heathrow, with gusts reaching approximately 16 kmph (10 mph). British Airways has since launched an investigation into the incident.