Munch : A Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787-9 narrowly managed to take off from Munich Airport with just 91 metres of runway remaining after its speed dropped twice during the takeoff roll, according to a preliminary report by Vietnam’s aviation authority. The aircraft later returned safely to Munich following a tense two-hour ordeal. During the flight, the plane dumped fuel and circled at around 9,000 feet before landing with four burst tyres and damage caused by a tail strike.
Viral videos of the incident show the Boeing 787-9 accelerating for an unusually long distance before lifting off close to the end of the runway, with a large cloud of dust trailing behind it. One video also appears to capture loud tyre noise shortly before or during liftoff, while footage from the aircraft’s return shows heavy smoke around the left main landing gear as the plane touched down.
Shortly after becoming airborne, the Boeing 787-9 triggered warnings indicating a possible tail strike and low tyre pressure. The crew informed air traffic control and decided to return to Munich. According to Vietnamese state media, the four Vietnamese pilots had a combined 63,938 flight hours, including 19,675 hours on the Boeing 787.
The crew noticed that the aircraft’s speed stopped increasing for around two seconds when it was about halfway down runway 26L. The aircraft then accelerated again and reached V1, the decision speed at which pilots must decide whether to continue or abort the takeoff. The pilots determined that there was no longer enough runway to safely abort the takeoff. They continued the departure, pushing the engine thrust levers to maximum.
After takeoff, the aircraft climbed to around 9,000 feet before the crew began dumping fuel to reduce its weight for the return to Munich. The aircraft circled near the airport for more than an hour, with passengers watching fuel being jettisoned from both wings. Passenger Nguyen Ninh, who was travelling from Munich to his hometown of Da Nang via Hanoi, recalled that the takeoff roll appeared unusually long.
As the aircraft prepared to land, cabin crew instructed passengers to adopt the brace position. The Boeing 787 then made two low-altitude circuits around the airport, allowing air traffic controllers to visually inspect its landing gear. The aircraft eventually landed safely on runway 26R at 3:57 pm local time, around two hours after departure.
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